Ask Gerry

I recently seeded my new lawn and am now preparing for the first cut. Someone had mentioned to me that I should not collect the grass on the first cut and instead leave it sit on the lawn to act as fertilizer. Is this a good idea and will it make any difference?

I have a new lawn only three years old and lately it has being covered with scutch grass, can I add anything or spray anything to get rid of it?

i have put down a new lawn four weeks ago and i am just wondering for the first few cuts will i collect the grass or is it best to mulch it without the box on the lawnmower.

I have recently moved to Ireland and have a huge back garden that i wish to make into a flower garden, how do i compost all the grass clippings that i am about to get?

I would like to know your opinion on using grass clippings for mulching a flower border and a shrub border. We produce a lot of clippings when the lawn is growing and I have been putting some of them on the borders to cut down weeds, conserve moisture and to rot down into the soil - but not too thickly as if I do they 'sludge' up.

I have about one acre in lawn and whilst I mulch as much as I can there are times I do have to cut and collect. I dump the cut grass in two dirty corners in the garden but now they are just unusable as they contain a dreadful gunge. I cannot drive the mower in. Is there anything I can do to break down or dry up this ugly mess?