Grass cuttings in potato trench

[Sarico]

i was just wondering a friend of mine has his garden bin full of grass cutting and i told me that is not been empty for 3 years and he only top up every time with grass... do you think if i ask him that is gonna be any good for gardening (been only grass cutting it smell)

[MrsDaffy]

i was just wondering a friend of mine has his garden bin full of grass cutting and i told me that is not been empty for 3 years and he only top up every time with grass... do you think if i ask him that is gonna be any good for gardening (been only grass cutting it smell)

I would have thought it would be quite slimy? I know people who just fill bins with grass cutting but put layers of cardboard between. It needs 'brown' material' to compost properly.

[Jimmy]

Don't use clippings off a lawn that has had weed killer on it!

Jimmy

[Florence Fennel]

On a similar note, would I be ok using straw in my spud trenches? Also can I use straw to mulch around onions and courgettes when they are big enough?

Many Thanks

My only experience with straw was about five years ago under the strawberries to keep them off the ground. I don't use it anymore, the slugs loved it.

[Two_Sheds]

friend of mine has his garden bin full of grass cutting

I inherited two of those with the house. Bladdy stank they did It took me one or two years to sort them out, turning/forking them out and mixing the slimy black "grass" with shredded newspaper.

As said above, greens must be mixed with browns (carbon: straw, newspaper etc)

[vegnut]

As Snadger said, it creates a localised acidic spot which combats scab on spuds. My soil is alkaline so has to be done. The few times i left grass out the spuds were nearly unuseable. It comes to something when i have to peel second earlies. It's not a problem if you have an acidic soil i guess.