4 Clever Things To Do With Grass Clippings After Mowing The Lawn

You mow the lawn, and then you’re left with bags upon bags of grass clippings. Yes, you could just take these to a garden waste recycling center – but it feels like you can do more with them. In reality, there are loads of ways to use grass clippings around your backyard after mowing the lawn – starting with these four ideas: 

Note: Some links in this post are affiliate links, which means I receive a commission if you click a link and then make a purchase.

Image Credit

Use grass clippings as mulch for your plants

Collect the loose clippings and spread them around your plants or flowers as mulch. It saves you from needing to buy mulch at your local garden center, and they’ll enhance the soil while protecting it from pests and weeds. 

This is very easy to do when your lawn mower has a bag attachment. It collects the grass clippings for you, so all you need to do is store them in another bag until they dry out. Avoid putting moist clippings down as mulch, as it can have the opposite effect and cause your plants to rot. 

Let the clippings fertilize your lawn

Now and then, you should let the grass clippings stay on the lawn to act as a fertilizer. Grass clippings are organic compounds, which means they will naturally break down and produce vital nutrients like nitrogen for your lawn. This gets deep into the soil and helps your grass retain its beautiful green color. 

You don’t need to do this every time you cut the lawn, but it won’t hurt to try it once a month or two. Pick up a Worx lawn mower to help with this as you’ll find ones with a setting that blows the clippings out and distributes them along your lawn as you mow. Then, when you don’t want to fertilize the lawn, you can flick a switch and collect the clippings in the bag. 

Give your plants a boost with grass fertilizer tea

As well as fertilizing your lawn, grass clippings are great for fertilizing plants and other things growing in soil. You can’t just lay them down, as this makes them act as mulch, not fertilizer. Instead, you’ll have to create something called “grass tea.” 

This is a specialty that many gardeners love, and it involves stewing your grass clippings in a bucket of water for a few days. Then, you use a watering can to disperse this liquid while watering your plants, giving them a nice dose of fertilization. 

Bulk up your compost

Every gardener should have a compost pile, especially if you’re trying to grow food and create a forager’s paradise. Compost encourages plants to grow and can help you produce larger quantities of food products – usually of a much higher quality, too. 

Grass clippings are an amazing addition to your compost pile, bringing natural nutrients and lots of nitrogen. Again, collect the stuff from the mower’s bag and dump it on your pile. Pro tip: throw in some leaves and shredded paper as a way of “balancing” the compost so the grass doesn’t get too stinky. 

It’s always good to reuse as much of your garden waste as possible. It keeps your garden healthy while reducing your impact on the planet. Plus, it helps you save a ton of money on other gardening materials like compost, mulch, and fertilizer! 

This is a contributed post.

More From NeededInTheHome

Product Reviews

Get Our Books

Etsy Shop

TPT Store

eBay Store

Linktree

My Faith Testimony

Subscribe so you never miss a post.

If you find my tips useful, feel free to buy me a coffee. Thank you in advance!

---

Want to remember this? Pin it to your favorite Pinterest Board!