Can you spread grass clippings and shredded leaves on the mulch? (cypress, earthworms)

[Baike]

Let us say, you bought mulch in spring for your garden, now you have plenty of grass clippings and shredded leaves from grass catcher bag.

Can you spread 3-4" of grass clippings and shredded leaves on the mulch?

[gemstone1]

Mulch is sort of a generic term these days.....there is good organic mulch, such as grass clippings and leaves, then there is that bagged c@#p that is sold at big box stores...

If you placed the bagged stuff, made of large chips of pine bark, or cypress on your garden, it is doubtful that any organic matter you place on top will break down in your lifetime. To do any good, remove the wood chips, place your clippings and chopped leaves, then replace your wood chips ...if you must.

Mulch serves a couple of purposes....it insulates plants/soil from temperature extremes, conserves moisture, and blocks weed growth by blocking sunlight. Good mulch will be broken down over time by bacteria and earthworms to become compost/soil.....wood chips will eventually do that...but it will take years. If the goal is just to inhibit/prevent weed growth, then wood chips will work...if you want to improve your soil...no.

Regards
Gemstone1

[nuts2uiam]

Plan better for next year. Either buy one of those plastic compost bins and turn it or put a chicken wire coop in your yard and add the clippings and turn them. If you are diligent you will have nice compost next year.

[jacqueg]

Originally Posted by GlebeH

Let us say, you bought mulch in spring for your garden, now you have plenty of grass clippings and shredded leaves from grass catcher bag.

Can you spread 3-4" of grass clippings and shredded leaves on the mulch?

You don't say what kind of mulch you bought, but if you bought some kind of bagged wood chips made from bark or treated wood, the best thing would be to rake aside the wood chips and use the grass/leaves instead. Use the now surplus wood chips to fill in the inevitable thin spots in other places. Or you could spread a thin layer of chips over the grass/leaves to blend in.

Those bagged chips are usually intended to resist breaking down, forming a semi-permanent (and hopefully decorative) layer. That's OK if that's what you want, but the purpose of grass/leaves IS to break down, and you want them directly on top of the soil. And yes, 3-4" is a good depth. Do keep on eye on it though, and make sure it doesn't form an impervious mat. If it does, just stir it up a bit with a garden fork.