Grass Cuttings under trees

[Albedo]

I worked with composting stuff for a while but have forgotten a lot, its on the laptop somewhere.

 

The thermophiic bacteria which produce the heat thru love making eating and making jolly, like nitrogen. Put fresh stuff down and they get going out of nowhere and when they run out of N in your cuttings they will rob the soil in order to continue their little love fest.

 

This is why putting grass cuttings = green stuff= high N … in yer woodchip = low N… will speed things up composting wise = happy thermophilic bacteria. It is also why Stevie spreads his woodchip from Gloria around a bit, because he knows about this. Also as Mester h et al just said, why it affects shallow rooted stuff.

 

Fungus may be along shortly to put this into more scientific terms. He mentions that he has worked with ‘soil food web’ which is (if I have not confused things) Dr Elaine Ingham, he and she are the final word on these things.

 

If you google ‘soil food web’ or Dr E. I. you’ll get the low down on this.

 

I used to be really interested in this sort of stuff and the above is just from memory. I might look it up as would like to be interested in it again:thumbup1:

[easy-lift guy]

Here in the states grass clippings under tree's, shrubs or in planter beds is a big mistake for many of the reasons previously mentioned. Never did it, never will!

[aob9]

I was always taught that you shouldn't use any sort of fresh, uncomposted vegetable matter as a mulch as it can "rob" the soil of nitrogen.

 

...me too, must be composted first. Instinctively, a mulch of of fresh wood chip around trees and hedges is not a good idea and I would never do it.

[Albedo]

Another thought on this.

 

With the op's pile of grass, you're not likely to get a nice aerated well drained aerobic, thermophilic bacteria composting situation.

 

You're more likely to have a damp anaerobic pile of goo, where you wil get a smell of ammonia and I think low ph acidic conditions. There wil be a different chemistry and bacteria involved which I don't remember detais of.

 

This is why compost piles are turned in order to keep them aerobic.

Edited May 8, 2011 by Albedo
typo

[janey]

Just a thought or two of my own on this; in the longer term, wouldn't the amount of available nitrogen still be generally increased as the bacteria themselves die and decompose?

 

And would the benefits of, say, a single application of clippings in sensible amounts (moisture retention, etc, etc) outway the short term reduction in nitrogen?

 

As this is something you know quite a bit about, please educate me

[Albedo]

Hi Janey, I'm struggling to remember stuff from some years ago and all my stuff on this is on an old external hard drive.

 

I did large scale composting for producing feed for a worm farm in oz. The worms, in turn to be used in a grey water filtering device which worked the way the soil works in filtering domestic grey water. The compost management there was different as we had hot and dry and not cold and wet conditions

 

But everything you just said seems logical to me. Long term nutrients are returned to the soil, and a thin sprinkling could be like autumn leaf fall which adds to soil humus.

 

Maybe we could agree to sprinkle but not pile:001_smile:. As a few people have said the actual composting process (of piles of stuff) is best done away from young plants