I'd use them as mulch and let them decompose. You can use them to mulch any vegetable.

Grass clippings are 4-1-2. Eventually. Dug into the soil, they'll break down very slowly, because of lack of oxygen. So they can be considered a weak, slow-acting fertilizer. Sort of like compost. Best not to pile it up as as mulch, because it will compost fast, and heat up, burning the plants. Yes, there are some rumors that nutrients are depleted if digging in uncomposted vegetative material. But I've always found that hard to believe. Where are the nutrients going to go? In fact, grass clippings in compost piles can be dicey, because thick layers can mat down and cause anaerobic decomposition.

Do be careful about not digging in grass clippings that have been treated with herbicide (e.g. weed & feed). That herbicide has a lifetime of weeks, so in a compost pile it will disappear, but it can kill plants that are exposed to it when fresh.

Drying makes no difference. Same stuff, with or without water. Don't bother.

It is only the humus aspect I am interested in really. I just want to improve the texture of the soil as I have run out of my own compost.

I intend to mix it very thoroughly and have the idea adding a little of that commercial pelleted chicken manure just in case the clippings deplete the nutritional value of the soil at first

But it is the soil conditioning that I really have in mind

Sounds like you're good to go. The main value of compost is soil texture anyway. You're just making grass compost in situ.

Green or brown grass clippings will have little to no effect depleting Nitrogen in your soil, and this is the only nutrient which would be depleted using non decomposed organic matter. But throwing in chicken pellets could be a problem with grass clippings, so let me bore you with an explanation.

All organic matter has a Carbon (C) to Nitrogen (N) ratio, and the ideal ratio is 24:1 give or take a few points on the carbon side. microorganisms need nitrogen for energy and when there isn't enough in the decomposing matter they will pull the nitrogen from the soil. The ideal C:N ratio is the perfect diet for microorganisms with no need for them to look for other nitrogen sources.

If the C:N ratio is high like Pine needles with a C:N ratio of 80:1 or wood chips with a C:N ratio around 400:1 the microbes will temporarily deplete the nitrogen until the food source is consumed and the population explosion will die out and return a portion of the nitrogen back to the soil. Using high Carbon low Nitrogen matter is when you should add chicken pellets for nitrogen but not when you use grass clippings.

Grass clipping have a C:N ratio of 12-25 to 1. The carbon spread is because grass clippings have stems too with a higher C:N ratio the leaves and differences between grasses. So this C:N ratio would not force microorganisms to pull nitrogen from the soil and no need to use chicken pellets to support the diet of microorganisms.

If your grass clippings are more toward the 12:1 ratio excess ammonia could damage the plants just like other low carbon high nitrogen items like fresh pig or chicken manure, so there is a chance your grass clipping could cause some damage, and adding chicken pellets could make the ammonia burning worse,

Most soil is 30% or more air and unless it's muck or water logged it is far from being anaerobic, so the grass leaves will decompose quickly in a matter of weeks, while the stems will take a little longer. Mixing grass clippings equaling 2%-4% of the soil content should do no harm but to reduce the risk of burning you could mix a little higher carbon matter with your grass clippings such as tree leaves (60:1) from last fall or freshly cut weeds (30:1) if you'd like. Just google "C:N ratio list" and you can find the ratios for nearly all organic matter.

It's actually understood that buried grass clippings can take months to decompose.

https://peppershomeandgarden.com/mixing-grass-clippings-into-soil/clippings 

Yes, soil has a healthy admixture of oxygen, but that oxygen doesn't move around in the soil. So once it's exhausted on one place, you don't get a lot more moving in on a short timescale. I know that at least buried leaves take many months and even a year to decompose, but I don't collect or bury my grass clippings. True that buried leaves have a low N/C ratio.

From my experience grass clippings used as a mulch will disappear very quickly. Even a 6 inch thick layer will disappear leaving no sign behind. And I've never seen it burn plants; even right up against the plants.

I think it's agreed that thick layers of grass clipping as mulch can burn. As in, piled up. Thin layers will not, because they cool efficiently as they decompose. A thick layer is it's own insulation. That's why compost piles get very hot. Because they're thick.

I mulch my vegetables with lawn mowings when I can get hold of them. In recent dry spells the soil underneath them remains moist and cool. They mingle with the underlying soil in their own good time.

I used thick mulches of grass clipping in the vegetable garden for many years without any burning or other problems.

I have piles of ground up leaves that I'm composting. Five inches under the surface, it's 140F. Clipped grass has lots more nitrogen. It'll be hotter. Now, if it isn't wet, it won't get hot.

My lawn was let go and has actually gone to seed like a cornfield.

I was able to mow it nonetheless.

I imagine it must have a lower N/C ratio than normal grass clippings and so even less problems ( if any) that I anticipated

I appreciate the scientific explanations as well as the practical advice:)

Dan, you are in Texas. We don't know where the OP is located, but what I said is definitely true of my experience in my climate.

Fair to say that one's experience with grass clippings may depend on climate. I'm just saying that piling grass clippings deeply, one might be careful. As I said, I don't collect my clippings. No one does around here. We just let them compost on the lawn surface, which they do quickly, in a thin layer. As you say, they mingle with the underlying soil in their own good time. Less than a few weeks, actually.

I don't have a lawn but I rake up clippings when the council mows around the allotments and take them either to my compost heap or to use directly around plants. I've just mulched some squash this morning. About 4 inches laid down after watering.

I have to suppose that in your climate, some extra heat might be appreciated!

But I think we're getting off-topic here. The OP wanted to know about burying clippings.

Whether plants burn or not would, I'd suppose, depend on how much fertilizer is in the soil and how much is in the clippings. If you just fertilized your tomatoes and piled on clippings from a just fertilized lawn would be a better opportunity to burn than a tomato patch that had mushroom compost dug in the previous fall and the lawn never gets fertilized.

I've seen cases where one crew fertilized a lawn and another crew later in the day mowed and bagged out the same lawn.

Getting back to digging in clippings; I would never dig in clippings containing fertilizer or any manure product just before planting carrots.

Good point about carrots. Over-nitrogenation of soil will make for a poor crop. Carrots planted over grass clippings is probably not smart.

I've observed some Asian gardeners digging in fresh grass clippings just before putting in transplants, and getting great results. Green grass clippings break down quickly. I've added them to the surface of my garden, and earthworms will quickly pull them under with no action on my part. They even pull down most of my hay mulch by the end of Summer.

I would not recommend doing that before planting seed though - especially for beans or corn. Decomposing vegetable matter can attract seed corn maggot flies, which could severely damage the emerging seeds/sprouts. That happened to me several years ago, when I mowed & tilled under weeds just before planting - and lost 100% of some soybeans, even after replanting. Not sure of the range of that pest, but it might be worth asking for advice from a local Extension office before considering this procedure.

And I agree with those who cautioned about using treated grass clippings. A few years ago, I added soil to the low end of a garden that was having drainage issues. This was a "garden soil" mix from a landscape company, with added sand and compost. The area where that soil was added was so bad the next year that everything there was stunted - even the weeds! It turned out the compost was municipal compost, which I can only assume contained treated grass.

I won't be sowing carrots

on top of buried grass clippings ,then.

Does that just make them fork rooted or would they suffer in other ways too?

I think I might sow more Swiss Chard in the bed I now have prepared.

Would leafy vegetables be a better choice than roots?(I normally sow turnips, radishes, fennel bulbs ,various brassicas plus the usual herbs)

High nitrogen in carrots tends to discourage root formation in favor of foliage on top. I think that's largely the same with other root crops, but it's particularly bad for carrots. Leafy crops, like Swiss Chard, would find it advantageous. Brassicas would also do well.

Sorry to disappoint some but earth worms do not eat compost or garden scraps. What they do eat are microorganisms feeding on organic matter and in the process consume a large amount of the enzymes microorganisms produce to breakdown the organic matter.

Think of a blue whale opening it's mouth wide to eat Krill, as he feeds other non targeted items are also consumed. Worms are the blue whales of the soil.

I regularly mulch with grass- I have a couple swaths on the property that I have specificly to mow for mulch for the gardens. Works great. Couple-few inches helps with keeping the beds from going crisp when it hasn't rained for weeks. We always get a goodly dry streak, it happens to be pretty lenghy and bad this year. It ends up getting dug in as I tend the beds in the fall, I don't summer dig in because it's more useful to me as a mulch at that time and it can always be dug in later. I have never had an issue with grass chemically burning anything in my gardens or getting hot in temp.

I would warn about using grass that has a lot of seed in it. If it's gone to seed and the seed has developed to viability I don't use it in the gardens. Yes, picking the weeds is easier out of mulch, but it's even better if you use grass mulch when it's long and not yet gone to seed. If you are planning on digging it in you can face some true issues with seed establishing itself in your gardens where you might not want it. If the yard has gone to looking like a ripe field of grain, I would consider it a fresh seeding of your lawn and just mow it down double to mulch it in place on the lawn. I also support folks making comment about not using treated grass clippings. But even if the clippings aren't treated, too much viable seed can be a PITA to deal with later.

Bronze fennel, bulb fennel, and radishes have all grown great for me using grass mulch. Some clippings in the soil don't seem to bother the roots at all, they form up correctly. Brassicas do fine with grass, most herbs do great with grass. Tomatoes, peppers, garlic, many greens and many flowers too. Don't know about carrots- I container grow those and those containers get leaf mulch.

link to youtube earthworm eating/moving straw.google search was for:

earthworm eating leaf youtube