Sounds a lot like Alfalfa pellets to me. Not really a soil amendment as they most likely won't stick around very long but the soil critters would enjoy them while they last and in turn slowly release whatever N remained. Also a good N addition to a compost pile in a pinch. Since you already have them you might as well use them for something.

Thank you, much appreciated! I was thinking they would be good for the compost pile too. Nice to know they would add some benefit to the soil.

Do you have a product name or able to supply a photo of the product? Or is there an ingredient list? "Grass" pellet would indicate something other than alfalfa, which is a flowering perennial, not a grass.

Alfalfa pellets or meal is too good of an organic fertilizer to just toss into the compost. Alfalfa contains a naural growth hormone, triacontanol, which is very beneficial to the growth of most plants and especially good for encouraging basal stemming on ornamentals like roses and clematis. But it is rather fast acting and can burn young plant roots so best applied as a side dressing or mulch. Can't see that it would have any benefit being applied over a newly seeded lawn, as it would very likely inhibit good germination.

doing a quick google I found something called Standlee Timothy Grass pellets. A horse feed. Doesn't sound that much different from Alfalfa pellets to me.

Except that timothy IS a grass (alfalfa is not) and it lacks the nutritional content of alfalfa (and the growth hormone!).

What this sounds like is simply pelleted grass seed. Re-read what you said the clerk said. " She said they were a waste of money for that because they were just grass pellets really meant for keeping birds from eating grass seed because when you water them they expand and block the birds from eating
them."

If it is, you won't want to plant grass in your garden bed, would you?

tj

I don't have a photo. It is a local store that makes it up themselves and the clerk said it was just dried grass pellets. I live out in the country but if I go back into town soon I will snap a photo. I already opened the bag I do have and the label is gone. Thanks everybody for all your help!

tsugajunkie It won't plant grass seeds, it is dried grass with no seeds.

So strictly a seeding mulch type product with a bit of ferts?

tj

tsugajunkie Well it is kind of confusing because being that it is a local small store product they don't have a great label explaining the item. I asked them about it before just to use as an inexpensive mulch and they swore it was fine for the veggie garden; nothing bad etc. May have even said it was regular lawn clippings made into pellets but it has been a few years so it is hard to remember. When I asked them about it again this week, I was buying it specifically for lawn seeding but wanted to know if it was also a good soil amendment too since it is cheap and it included it on the label. That is when the guy found the lady who told me it was "just grass clippings." I wondered if just regular grass clippings that were dried had any benefits. I figured they would have some, reduced of course, but the sales lady felt as a soil amendment they were pretty useless.

Grass (and other 'greens') lose 10-20% of their N when dried but they do retain much of it. It should be fine for the compost but keep in mind I would find some free grass clippings from neighbors before buying pelletized grass though. Just avoid lawns that are sprayed with herbicides (ChemLawn etc.). Most of those will decompose readily in the compost but definitely a bad idea to use directly around plants as mulch because the residues can wash down and harm your plants. I used to collect a LOT of grass clippings to compost back when my house was new and the soil was awful.

Thank you!

toxcrusadr, they swear it has no chemicals but it is concerning since most people tend to use pesticides of some sort on lawns. I wonder just where they are getting this grass from. They have been around for years and I trust them but it is always something to consider.

gardengal48, that's awesome! Interesting that companies do this. The local store probably got the idea from them. There's is mainly for protecting grass seed but interesting to see others market it for pellet stoves. Not what I would have guessed but makes sense.

I buy a 50# bag of alfalfa pellets for $12-15 every couple of years - it really lasts. A good nitrogen boost for veggies in full production - small handfull around the base and scratched in with my fingers, rain does the rest. When I'm planting tomatoes, peppers or melons I dig a deep hole, put a handfull of alfalfa pellets and a tablespoon of bone meal in the hole, put some dirt in to cover the additions and plant. By the time the roots penetrate to the alfalfa and bone it is broken down enough to not burn them. Seems to work for me.

Not the same thing but a bona fide organic nitrogen boost.