Grasscycling is the natural recycling of grass clippings by simply leaving them on the lawn after mowing. The nutrients from the clippings are then recycled to the soil, making your lawn healthier.

Grasscycling reduces the need for fertilizer, saves you time and money, saves tax dollars by reducing garbage and it's easy to do with your regular mower by following these tips:

• Water you lawn in the early morning. You will lose less water to evaporation and reduce the risk of fungus disease.
• Keep mower blades sharp. Set it to cut grass at 2 1/2 to 3 inches high. Removing only one third of the grass blade makes for a healthier lawn.
• Watering every day can cause fungus disease and shallow rooted grass. A good watering (one inch of water) once a week during dry periods should be plenty.
• Over-fertilizing your lawn can cause excessive growth and thatch. Leaving your grass clippings on the lawn returns nitrogen to the soil, reducing fertilizer needs.
• Only mow when the lawn is dry. The best time is early evening to allow the grass clippings to dry and settle.

Leaves and Yard Waste

Chances are that your municipality has a program in place to collect leaves and other yard waste in the autumn. If you're dealing with these organics on your own, what you do with them will depend on how much time you want to spend. The solution can be as simple as finding an "out of the way" corner of the yard to pile them in and simply leave them there for a year or so. Over a period of time they will break down to create a nutritious leaf mold which is an excellent addition to planting beds.

How To Speed Things Up

If you want to speed up the process of decomposition, there are a number of things that you can do:

• Mulching leaves and yard waste will speed up the process. Rake them into a pile and run a lawn mower over them.
• Adding a source of nitrogen to the high carbon content of the leaves will do the job. Fresh manure, urea, or fresh grass clippings will do this nicely.
• Try putting a 1" layer of soil in between 6" layers of leaves to speed things up. If you are prepared to turn the pile periodically to fluff it up and incorporate some air, then the process of composting will occur much more quickly.

If you are using a backyard composter for your kitchen scraps, you should be adding equal amounts of dry, high carbon yard waste as well. It is a good idea to collect some leaves in the fall in plastic garbage bags and set these beside your composter. If the leaves are collected dry, then they will not freeze and the leaves can be added a bit at a time to your composter throughout the winter and mixed with kitchen waste.