Just moved out to the country and got 1.5 acres of mostly bare lawn. Picked up a used riding mower so I'm collecting almost 2 cu yds. of clippings per mow to make compost with. Eventually want to do permaculture things with the place but for now I'm just going to plant some trees and make lots of compost. The grass is mostly Bermuda and so thick I can't get a flat shovel through it. I'm hoping this process will take nutrients away from the lawn and maybe make mowing take less time/not as frequent. Nitrogen is somewhat replaced by rain water but I imagine given enough time the lawn will start to die? Will other things take it's place when that starts to happen?
by meatwagon910
14 Comments
I’m not sure if you’re robbing a significant amount of nutrients, but speaking from experience, you’re gathering a lot of great mulch. If you lay 4-8 inches of clippings on scalped grass (especially in the late fall) it’ll kill it off. Only the dandelions, field garlic, and violets will be able to poke through.
If you are not aware, compost needs a mix of “brown” and “green” material. If you just use grass clippings, you will end up with a pile of mucky, rotten grass. Add things like dried leaves, woody material, straw, newspaper/cardboard, etc to really get a good compost going.
It’ll get patchy and then nitrogen fixers like clovers and the greater clover family will move in. Mowing will likely never truly kill the grass unless you live in an area where it’s very hard for grass to grow.
Doubt it will make a difference except over many years. Looks like a shitload of work for you though. I’d try other options and go back to mulching
Leave the clippings just mow on the lowest setting. Maybe DIY a lower setting? You could herbacide the lawn and reset it with whatever you growing in X amount of time (I don’t know anything about herbacide)
You won’t get rid of Bermuda by mowing. Mowing frequently and low only encourages Bermuda to put out more stolons, thickening the grass up. You can try to smother it or solarize it to kill it off if you’re adverse to herbicide applications.
It’s not going to work the way you think.
Most weeds have lower nutrition requirements than grass.
Soon you’re going to have a bunch of goat heads, nettle, dandelions, etc.
To kill the grass more quickly PLUS removing the invasive seed bank most likely present.
It would make more sense to till it over, let it germinate again, till it, Germinate, etc over 1 season.
If you notice some native plants there, maybe try to transplant them or keep that section.
But odds are it’s a bunch of invasive non native seed bank in that grass…
But tilling it over every 3-4 weeks for 3 months in the spring/summer should get rid of the invasives and kill the grass fine.
It’s a little counter intuitive because it seems like you’re chopping the top of the plant off continually, but mowing is probably one of the most beneficial things you can do for a lawn other than irrigation and fertilizer. You’re cutting off its competition and allowing it to still grow high enough for growth and nutrient storage. Some species benefits from allowing it to go to seed, but most modern varieties will be fine without doing that. The easiest way to kill off most of your lawn is actually to stop mowing and toss out a bunch of clover and native seeds and allow them to take over and cover the grass. You won’t kill everything off, but even if you went scorched earth and killed every bit of grass, you’re going to see some growing back when birds drop off the random grass seed here and there in the future. Sometimes it’s best not to fight it like a disease but to instead allow the immune system of the rest of the yard overcome it for you.
Continually.
This is great! Think about which trees you need to bring in and put them the farthest from the house. If you need to start growing food, get that started now. Everything will fall into place. Best of luck
You will never kill a Bermuda lawn without chemicals or a similar massive, repeated strategy of overwhelming attack. Placing very deep layers of wet clippings like this on a normal lawn without Bermuda is actually a good way to kill most grasses! Bermuda is different. It’s very drought resistant and unbelievably resilient and persistent. The rhizomes will survive unless the whole area is treated with chemicals, left under plastic to bake in the sun and even then, I’d continue to raise an eyebrow. As much as I dislike Bermuda and its intrusiveness, it’s a very soft grass that’s lovely to walk on, grows to an even height, and can actually be helpful in areas of erosion.
What is the general color of the soil if you dig a small hole about 1 foot down? If it is mostly a darker shade of brown, or nearly black it will take you forever to deplete the nutrient base. If it is a lighter brown you can thin it out pretty well by robbing it of nutrients, but not likely to kill it all.
The best shot for thinning it out quickly is to find if it does poorly in acidic, or alkaline soil. Then taking actions to give it a soul it will not like.
Another choice is to see if a certain plant acts like a poison to the greenery you are trying to get rid of. Another choice is to rob it with about 1 to 2 inches of grass. Possibly accumulate enough to cover your whole yard. Then sprinkle dirt on top and seed it. A little bit will break through, but probably more manageable. Many other ways, but the best options I can think of.
how about a tillage event