WHAT TO DO WITH GRASS CLIPPINGS

When the days are at their longest, some of us with large expanses of grass tend to start sinking under the vast quantities of clippings produced. The simplest way to deal with them is to just leave them on the lawn. There is even a phrase known as "grass cycling" to make us feel less lazy when it comes to dealing with the problem. The grass clippings soon rot down and are a natural feed. This saves money buying fertilizer and saves time bagging up.



There are a few points to note though.



1. Grass will need to be mown frequently (every five days) to prevent your lawn drowning in clippings. Check the cutting blades of the mower are sharp; this will help get a clean cut.



2. Avoid mowing when the grass is damp or wet as this causes the mower to drop large clumps of grass every so often. In my experience, it's hard to combine the wet weather and five day mowing rule due to our climate, but we can try.



3. Be aware that children and dogs will track these clippings indoors possibly onto carpets. In some cases, an adapter kit is required to allow you to safely operate your mower without a bag, or alternatively you could opt for a new mulching lawn mower itself. These tend to be quite expensive, but it may save you a lot of time and fertiliser.

Add areas of low maintenance in the lawn to cut down on excessive grass clippings

Compost them

Grass clippings are approximately 85 percent water and 4 percent nitrogen, which means if composted correctly they will rapidly reduce to one tenth of their volume. A bag of grass clippings would reduce to handful or two of compost. Add carbonA compost heap usually includes other wet waste such as vegetable peelings and fruit. To balance this out, dry matter or carbon material could be added. This will help to keep the air circulating and stop it from smelling. Dry matter includes paper, wood chips, leaves and broken sticks.



Add equal amounts of wet and dry matter to keep the fruit flies at bay and stop the smells. Another way to let the oxygen circulate in your pile is to aerate it. This means turning the grass clippings and other materials to loosen up the piles. Let them bakePut grass clippings in the sun for a day before adding them to the compost pile. This will dry out the clippings and reduce the volume considerably. Adding lime to the compost bin will help to kick-start the decomposing process and prevent the development of moulds and nasty odours.



If you have recently applied pesticides or herbicides to your lawn, do not add the grass clippings to your compost piles until the rain has wash off these chemicals completely.Bin themIf you have a brown bin, then take advantage of this to dispose of your lawn clippings. This is perfect for gardens with a small lawn.



Under the hedge

Grass clippings can be used for weed control at the base of your hedges. This helps to retain moisture and adds organic matter and nutrients to the soil. For best results spread about an inch or two of weed free clippings at the base of the hedge avoiding its main stems. Add more clippings when the previous batch has broken down.



Over the hedge

A pile of grass clippings is very attractive to hungry horses, ponies, donkeys, cows and sheep, but if the animals gorge themselves on the grass, it can prove fatal. Pasture bloat and colic are the main cause of illness, then there is always the possibility of pesticide poisoning if the lawn has been treated recently. Be wary of using this method of disposal, especially if you are doing it unawares to the farmer.



Reduce your lawn area

Try adding flowerbeds and areas of low maintenance if grass clippings are getting too much for you. Also you could plant a few native trees and shrubs for the birds. Less lawn equals fewer clippings...

HERBS IN THE GARDEN

Most herbs are trouble free to grow and look after. They look good, smell good and do you good. Ever since humans have been on the earth, herbs have been used as medicines, perfumes, insect repellents and, of course, in foods and flavourings.

This huge group of plants includes trees, shrubs, annuals and even cacti, to name but a few. One important thing to remember when growing herbs is that they are the foundation of all modern medicine. They are not the gentle, delicate things some would like you to think. They are healers, therefore they should be treated with respect, and if you are considering them for specific medicinal use always consult a doctor or qualified herbalist. If you are growing herbs for use in the kitchen then you could have fun reading up on how they flavour food. Some herbs aid digestion and help you sleep soundly for example.

Easy to grow
Herbs can tolerate all types of tough growing conditions. Most of them were originally wild plants that grew in poor soil. Some varieties can be spoilt by the lush conditions of a garden. If they grow too large their flavours and properties become lessened. It's a myth that all herbs like full sun; even good old basil likes partial shade at midday. So when planning your garden, you can divide your plants into two sections, those like thyme, sage, rosemary, French tarragon and oregano that like full sun and those that like partial shade, such as rocket, sorrel, lettuce, mustard, parsley and chervil.

Containers and window boxes
Some plants that will do well in a herb window box on the sunny side of the house are chives, oregano and lemon thyme. Creeping thyme could be used to drape over the edge of the containers. However, on the shady side of the house a salad herb window box could be planted up with wild rocket, chervil, French parsley and red mustard.




Growing Tips
When growing herbs in containers, use a soil-based compost, either organic or something like John Innes potting compost. This is because there are very few herbs that grow in peat, and a soil-based compost retains moisture, which is a must to stop containers drying out.

Water the containers in the morning rather than the evening because this gives the plants a chance if the temperatures are hot during the day, especially for containers grown in full sun.
Feed container plants weekly from March until September. This keeps the plants healthy, helps them produce tasty leaves, especially on cut and come again salads. As we are on the coast, a seaweed-based feed is ideal or you could make your own comfrey or nettle juice now. These are not too strong and both will promote healthy leaf growth without making the plants grow too big and tasteless.

NEW FORUM SITE

DO YOU NEED GARDENING ADVICE?

Most of us have gardening questions that need answering at some time. Unfortunately I can’t cover all of them in a weekly article, as there just isn’t the room. To get over this issue I have teamed up with Irish Gardeners.com to give you an unparalleled gardening forum on my website www.gardening.ie. It is a very lively site with plenty of tips, advice and discussions. It’s free to join and I look forward to meeting you there…

BLOOM 2008

I went to the Bloom Flower Festival in Dublin presented by Bord Bia (the Irish Food Board) last week. It is the second year that the event has been on in Phoenix Park and I couldn’t miss the opportunity to take some photos for my website.

Big business
The amenity horticulture and landscaping sector is currently worth about €2 billion to the Irish economy annually, so the event is a key player in highlighting modern gardening trends and products. There were plenty of stalls selling a great range of home-made produce including cheeses, spreads and sweets. My son (who came with me) disappeared and returned with the biggest chunk of delicious fudge (it took him three days to finish it). It looked like a piece of marble stone and was a work of art…before it was devoured.

There was a large turn out of nurseries displaying this year’s plants as well as companies showcasing the latest in gardening labour saving devices and accessories.


There seems to be a lot of drama this year too in the garden, with bold architectural planting, which reflect what a creative lot the Irish gardeners are. Environmental issues are high on the agenda in the gardening world. Organic vegetable growers were well represented by the Dublin Meath Growers and there were sponsored gardens highlighting the need to feed yourselves from home grown produce, make your own compost and save the water that comes off your roof to irrigate the plants.

BLOOMIN’ MARVELLOUS

Health and Well-being
Floristry was well covered too, and a whole pavilion was taken up with fantastic displays. One that caught my eye used blue and red neon lighting to highlight the already bright colours. They were aptly called Madflowers. Less mad were conservation groups such as Bird Watch Ireland who reflected the diversity of outdoor interests and if anyone was interested in cookery there were displays running all through the weekend. A big emphasis was put on health and wellness at the show and dieticians and health experts were at hand to give talks and advise people on how to get - and stay healthy.


DESIGN
I was particularly interested in the show gardens. These are generally gardens that are so well laid out and planted that you could come away feeling as though your own plot was just a pile of old broken toys and wind blown overgrown shrubs. Don’t let that put you off though. It is the same as walking around the Ideal Homes Exhibition. The rooms are beautiful but are not lived in. In fact both my lad and I got told off a few times for climbing over the ropes and walking around the designs. The gardens can spark off your imagination but if you incorporated some of the ideas into your own garden they wouldn’t necessarily look the same as in a show garden as they would be more than just something to look at.

High Standards
The standard of design was really high for all sizes of gardens and although most designers are based in the Southeast, (perhaps reflecting denser populations, more expendable income and different priorities).

Small gardens used structures to give the illusion of space; one designer used large irregular four sided frames to magically change your perspective on the view (likened to Alice through the Looking Glass). I really enjoyed the use of different materials in the designs, one garden had slate, water, grass, bricks, slabs and wood all in the space of a few feet. Architectural features are important in a garden to give it depth. Peter Donegan went one better and included items that were either recycled or recyclable, including a 1957 pink, three storey pleasure boat. The Living Classroom entry inspired school grounds to be used for organic food production and to learn about biodiversity. The key phrase being “Think global act local”. School grounds tend to be concrete and grass so initiatives that will promote organic growing and educational wildlife areas with a pond will hopefully be the norm. It doesn’t have to be serious either. The south Dublin Education Society designed a Good Fun School Garden which incorporated overflowing baths and graffiti as well 5 separate areas representing the senses. Bord Bia will soon be coming out with a DVD on the subject so teachers can keep an eye out for it.
An inspiring day out and I plan to return next year. You can check out some of the photos on my website or visit the Bloom website