I have more grass cuttings than my compost bin can cope with, what else can I do with them?

Some grass in your compost is good, as grass is an activator and will speed up the breakdown of your compost. However too much grass will result in a smelly, slimy mass. If you have more grass than your compost bin can cope with then here are a few other uses:

• As a mulch - this works better if you put newspaper around your plants first, and then cover with a layer of grass cuttings, this can be replenished each time you cut the lawn.
• An addition to leaf mould - if you made leaf mould in the autumn then you can mix equal volumes of grass to the leaves. This will speed up the breakdown of the leaves and increase the nutrient content.
• Leave it on your lawn - this will add nutrients to the soil and provided you mow regularly thatching shouldn’t occur.

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