Stinky Slimy Mess

by Dan
(Idaho)

Here is my compost fail story...


Several years ago, I worked as the gardener on a large estate. We mowed five acres of grass around the house and the owner demanded that we collect the clippings. We generated a lot of them quickly.

Why remove clippings? Bagging grass has always been a pet peeve of mine - a waste of time and energy. It only makes sense to collect them on golf putting greens. They are full of nutrients and organic matter and break down quickly.

Anyway, I decide to "compost" the clippings instead of spreading them in one of the fields. So we stockpiled them in a spare mulch bin. It rained a lot that summer and we mowed and mowed and piled up clippings. It quickly turned into a stinky, slimy mess instead of sweet smelling compost.

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Shredded paper
by: Lesley

I get a lot of lawn clippings in the summer too. If there are cows in the back field, I tip the clippings over for them, they're always happy to have fresh cut grass to eat.

If there are no cows then I put the clippings in the compost, but I mix them with paper from the shredder. We shred all our confidential paperwork, so it's a good way of keeping the lawn clippings from sticking together so much and letting a bit of air in and it prevents having confidential, shredded paperwork going elsewhere.
Slimed Again!
by: Leslie

Grass is so tricky isn't it. And the really tough part is that once it's in the slime state it is hard to fix.

I can't imagine dealing with five acres of grass clippings. I started grass cycling - just leaving the clippings on the lawn last year and it sure cuts down on the work. Plus I don't have to try to take care of the huge piles of grass that might otherwise occur.

Great story. Thanks.

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