Expert: Greg - 10/13/2007

Question
I have a large compost pile in my yard and put everything in there from garden waste, food waste, leaves and grass clippings. I have also asked my neighbors to give me their grass clippings since I mulch mine back into the lawn. I have kept my garden organic, but wondered how many chemicals would be in the neighbors clippings. They all have services do their lawns. Do the grass clippings themselves have chemicals or does most of it go to the roots? Does the heating action of the compost pile do anything to negate the chemicals? I guess I'm just not sure that I should be using their grass and putting it back into my garden??

Answer
Hello

Excellent questions

My guess is, if a "Service" is treating your neighbors lawn, chances are they are using the Standard High Nitrogen Fertilizers that are common in Residential use.

My question to you is, are YOU using Organic products on YOUR Lawn? If so, great. Then try and convince your Neighbor the benefits of such products. Lawn Services will go Organic if you ask them to, if not, get someone who will.

Now, do the Grass Clippings have chemicals on them?  Yes they do. Do some of the Chemicals go to the root system?  Yes they do, as a matter of fact, thats how you kill certain weeds like Dandelions.

The University of Iowa has developed a Corn Gluten product that has shown to stop Weed Seed Germination. It is marketed under many names, so I can't give you a product name. I have used this, No Crabicides, and I give this product a BIG Thumbs up. No Crabgrass, no Dandelions, etc.

Yes you can go totally Organic, and get the same results.

Now for the last question, if you take your neighbors clippings, I would Compost them separate, and segregate them from yours. You could use this Compost for anything that you don't consume, like Vegetables. Yes the Heating action will help break down the unwanted chemicals, but you would have to make sure that the Pile got hot enough to do this. 150-160 Degrees for a sustained period of about 2 weeks.

I hope this helps, but if I have missed something, don't hesitate to follow up with another question.

The Best of Luck
   Greg