Can You Use Grass Clippings Instead Of Straw? 5 Alternative Solutions

Straw, grass clippings, and organic compost material are three of the most commonly used additives for lawns and gardens. If you’re tired of having your seeds restricted and dehydrated from straw, then you might want to consider switching to grass clippings.

You can use grass clippings instead of straw to restore vital nutrients to the soil, enhance water retention, and prevent dehydration. Grass clippings can be harvested with a lawn sweeper. Spread the grass clippings in a thin layer over the soil for the benefits mentioned above.

If you’re interested in using grass clippings instead of straw, you’re in the right place. On this page, you’ll learn everything you need to know about the use of grass clippings, including:

• Five alternatives to use instead of straw
• How to apply grass clippings for the best effects
• A few reasons that straw might not be the greatest choice for your plants

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Alternatives to Using Straw for Growing Grass Seeds

When growing grass, it’s not advisable to leave freshly seeded areas bare because the seeds may not get the necessary conditions to grow efficiently, such as moisture and warmth. Birds may also decide to make a feast out of the seeds.

Applying a straw mulch to cover the newly seeded areas is usually not a very good idea since straw may contain other plant seeds or weeds that can invade your lawn and compete with the growing grass for rapid establishment. The following alternatives are recommended:

Consider Using Sawdust

SF Gate suggests using sawdust instead of straw. Sawdust serves as a fine mulch that is recommended for your grass seeds to ensure uniformity of grass growth. It also serves to protect the seeds from dryness.

It’s essential to ensure that there are no clumps that lay on the seeds before application. Applying the mulch too thick prevents drainage and evaporation, which isn’t conducive for the grass seeds. A thin 1/4-inch layer of the sawdust mulch is sufficient for the seeded area.

Peat Moss is Another Excellent Option

Peat moss is formed when mosses and other living materials decompose in peat bogs. It’s a fibrous material that’s mostly used as a soil amendment but can also be used as mulch for growing grass seeds.

Peat moss is an organic material that improves the soil structure and adds nutrients to the soil after the grass seeds grow. It holds a lot of moisture, and it releases it to the plant roots as needed.

To use it for mulching, you need to loosen it from its dense state to allow for efficient drainage.

Compost Works for Many Situations

When compost is used as a mulch for your grass seeds, it offers a great source of nutrients compared to fertilizer alone. Grass clippings are an especially great addition to a compost pile as they have a high nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium content. This saves you the effort and cost of buying nitrogen fertilizer.

Using compost as mulch also prevents moisture loss and increases soil fertility as it mixes with the soil below the seeds. An evenly spread thin layer of about 1/4-inch of compost mulch can be used for mulching since clumped compost that hasn’t been screened can suffocate the seeds.

It’s necessary to ensure that the compost used is well-aged because organic particles that haven’t decomposed fully may attract wildlife or cause the seeds to rot.

Seed Mats Should Be On Your List

Seed mats are pieces of fabric with seeds embedded in them. Seed mats can be bought ready-made, or you can DIY. They are designed for sloppy areas where loose mulch would be washed downhill after rain or irrigation.

The mulch mat is laid over the seeds to offer suitable seed conditions for growth. The mat limits seed waste and help in saving time by laying down a bed of seeds. Since these mats are biodegradable, they can be left in the field after the grass seeds germinate.

Want to know how to use fertilizer over mulch?

What Are the Benefits Of Using Grass Clippings?

Grass clippings can be used as a garden/lawn mulch that is very eco-friendly. The University of Minnesota mentions that grass clippings can be used to bring life to the soil. They can also be composted to provide free organic fertilizer. The following are the benefits of grass clippings in detail:

• Controlling moisture and supporting water conservation efforts is worth noting. A layer of grass clippings used as mulch will shade your soil and save you the trouble of irrigating your lawn or garden frequently as it hinders dryness and helps in moisture retention. This process boosts water conservation. Let’s face it: Lawns aren’t very eco-friendly.
• It discourages weed growth and spread. The mulch from grass clippings suppresses weed growth by blocking out sunlight. This ensures your plants or grass don’t compete with any other plant for nutrients and space.
• Improving soil health is a huge benefit of grass clippings. Grass clippings can be composted to provide your lawn or garden with an increase in organic matter that improves the soil’s number of valuable nutrients. Additionally, sandy soil or soil with heavy clay can be improved through the addition of organic matter from the clippings.
• It promotes a safe and chemically-limited environment for bees and other wildlife that are beneficial to the lawn who visit your yard searching for food. Animals and bugs such as bees and other wildlife find food in your lawn, and when the grass is cut and synthetic fertilizers are used, it impacts them negatively. Using grass clippings as mulch ensures the property gets organic nutrients, and therefore, no chemicals are used while insects and other animals still benefit from it. 
• Grass clippings reduce lawn-related landfill deposits. Recycling or composting grass clippings helps in eliminating the use of plastic bags for lawn clippings. This helps in reducing waste. The plastic bags used to bag clippings don’t decompose as clippings do, so they end up filling landfills. Using grass clippings, therefore, helps in maintaining a clean and pleasant environment.

What’s The Quickest Way To Harvest Grass Clippings?

Most small mowers feature a box attachment used to collect grass clippings. If your mower doesn’t feature this box attachment, the quickest way to harvest grass clippings, especially if you have a large lawn, is by using a lawn sweeper.

A lawn sweeper is a garden tool that makes grass clipping collection easy and fast. It features a rotating sweeping brush that gathers the grass clippings into an attached hopper bag. For large lawns, the lawn sweeper can be towed behind your ride-on mower or garden tractor, but for smaller lawns, hand-pushed lawn sweepers are available.

Using a lawn sweeper increases the number of clippings collected and also reduces your number of trips to the compost as you only empty the hopper bag when it’s full.

To learn more about lawn sweepers, click here.

Wrapping It Up

Grass clippings are an excellent substitute for straw. In fact, they’re much better to use for numerous reasons. Whether you’re trying to grow seeds or restore nutrition to the soil, using organic materials is always the best way to go. Fortunately, you can get the clippings from your yard for free.

Here’s a quick rundown of the post:

• Sawdust, peat moss, grass clippings, and compost are all excellent choices to use instead of straw.
• Use a lawn sweeper to collect loads of grass clippings.
• Grass clippings have tons of nutritional value that’s vital to your lawn and garden’s health.
• You can use seed mats to treat seeds on sloped surfaces.
• Straw can be a bit too suffocating for grass seeds.