>> Here at our house we have begun bagging our clippings because after not doing it for a year or two, our lawn was getting so congested with thatch

When I was a kid, doing the mowing, I fought to leave the clippings in place. But the one spot where the lawn was lush (septic drainage field) did accumulate thatch. So I would wiat a few days for the cuttings disapear or turn brown, then rake the thathy area, spreading the clippings around.

Then I learned to mow so that the mower would throw the cuttings from the lush area onto the sparse area.

Now, I would take the bags of clippings while still green and rich in N,and mix them with 3-4 parts of paper, sawdust or other "browns". That way I would get 4-5 times as much compost from them. Whether that compost goes back onto the lawn, or to a garden bed, depends on what needs compost the most.

Does anything compost faster than grass clippings?

I remember when we used to bag clippings and put into mulch pile but have learned that they're better for us on the lawn because we have lots of trees draining the nutrients. We only fertilize the lawn with chicken poo in the spring and fall.

Yea! Finally had time to sit down this week with my soil test results. Ph higher than I thought at 7.1. Excess levels of magnesium and calcium, very low level of potassium. Organic matter is 11%. Formulating a fertilizing blend to start bringing some of the nutrients into balance. Lots of math but nothing I can't do. I did go to the website recommended to d/l the worksheets which was a good thing since there was a third revision with lots of updated information.

@Anderwood - I was wondering if you've had a chance to get further into "The Intelligent Gardener" - kind of looking for input from others that have read the book. I'm getting ready to order some of the soil amendments that are recommended so that I have them on hand to put onto the garden a few weeks before planting.

I did finish it, but found it too technical for me right now. There is a product called Iron Earth that is a remineralizer. I never got around to testing my soil. I made a hugel slash lasagna bed. We will see how it goes.

Thanks for responding! I've persevered through the book, not really absorbing as much as I would like so am reading it a second time with my soil test in front of me. Really helps me.

Somehow I let this thread slip through the cracks and never came back and saw all of the wonderful information you were all posting.

Thank you @hazelnut and @shadegardener for the comments and recommendations you posted. I have been interested in heugelkutlr (sp?...it's German, so I cut myself some slack on the spelling of it, LoL!), but it seems like such a daunting task. Between getting a giant log/tree in (and digging up the clay soil to get it in) and trying to approve the process with my HOA, I've lost a lot of motivation to try it. I think it would solve a lot of my current problems with my soil, but I'm not sure I want to deal with all of the problems it creates! Maybe I need to re-research it and try convincing myself it isn't as difficult as it sounds.

Dogs - I'm fortunate not to have to deal with an HOA. Because I have an oak-shaded yard, access to downed limbs/branches isn't difficult. And since my back yard slope down to the poison ivy forested wetlands, I'm thinking of building sort of like berms to slow down the run-off from my yard. All of my garden beds are at least 20 years old with shrubs and perennials and I'd really have to consider which might benefit from hugel beds. If you check out Anderwood's hugel bed from last season, he makes it look very easy and it does look very neat when he was done creating it.

Yikes on the poison ivy! Does slowing runoff help stop poison ivy by depriving it of its water source? I'm fortunate enough to not have to deal with poison ivy here.

On the unfortunate side, our subdivision (including our house) is full of younger trees,...the trunks of the trees wouldn't be thick enough to create a heugel bed, much less the branches. In time, maybe...

I think you will find that hugelkultur is the easiest method of growing a garden. You dont need trees--you can just use small scraps of scrap wood--you prunings. dump on some compost and just from cleaning up. Maybe some garden soil on the top. then you have to rotate crops: maybe starting out with some cover crops. You need low nitrogen requirements to start out. Check out Anderwoods posts, he is the expert. But you don't have to dig, And you dont have to bury the wood. very easy and a great way to use up stuff, that most people haul away.

Looking to see more of you Dogs.

Dogs - no - slowing the run-off won't halt the poison ivy. I always have to be observant since the birds distribute seeds from the berries. I'm just trying to reduce erosion. Some folks on my block don't have any backyards as the slope down to the wetlands starts only a couple of feet away from their house foundations.

DogsNDaylilies said:... but it seems like such a daunting task. Between getting a giant log/tree in (and digging up the clay soil to get it in) and trying to approve the process with my HOA, I've lost a lot of motivation to try it. ...

If the HOA allows wood piles, just let the pile stay soggy for the first year or two. Then, if it's crumbly, use it like very low-nitrogen compost or partly-composted wood chips. (If some of the HOA's buddies have fireplaces, they probably allow wood piles.)

If it's still solidly woody after a year or two of above-ground rotting, pile soil and compost on top of it and plant in that. The wood pile will make it a very raised raised bed for a few years. You could use the largst, most solid logs as walls for the bed. But eventually it will subside.

If the HOA might still be fussy, fake them out by setting a few planters with flowers on top of "the wood pile" while waiting for it to rot. They can't complain about potted plants on top of a wood pile, can they?

After they're used to that, remove the potted plants and drop a layer of soil and compost, maybe lasagna-style with cardboard between the main wood pile and the soil/compost layer. And maybe set the potted plants back on top of the new bed for a month or so, to make the transition even more gradual.

Rick -
I have heard (on the internet of course) of a TX HOA saying one home had too many flowers. Ach!

Shadegardener said: ... a TX HOA saying one home had too many flowers. Ach!

FFFPPPTTT!!!



Some people should never be given ANY power.

"Too many flowers".

As if that were even POSSIBLE!

I think that HOA has too many butt-in-skies.

You two are cracking me up!

Dogs - are you allowed to have berms in your yard? You could "innocently" be creating a landscape feature that will ultimately be topped with compost or good soil for planting a bed.
Rick -

Im glad in Alabama they believe in as few rules as possible! You guys sound like experts in getting around them.

I'm not a fan of HOAs. Would definitely try to avoid them if I ever move.

hazelnut said:Im glad in Alabama they believe in as few rules as possible! You guys sound like experts in getting around them.

In the PNW, slugs are the biggest pests.

Back in New England, the biggest pests are passive-aggressive busybodies.

Rick - Just be careful - some pests move westward, kinda like stink bugs.