Why Does A Heap Of Grass Cuttings Get Hot In the Middle?

If you put your hand in a heap of grass cuttings about an hour after the lawn had been mowed, you will find that their temperature is very much higher than the air outside. If you test it again later, it may be very hot, so beware!

What is happening is that the grass has already begun to rot and produce heat. The grass in the middle of the pile feels hotter than e outside grass because the heat inside is trapped.

The heat of the outer grass can escape more easily into the surrounding air.

Like grass, other living things decay once that have died. Chemical changes produce heat. The parts that made up the whole thing ---plant or animal--- break down. That is not the end of the,, though. The parts get recycled into useful materials that help soil be fertile and plants to grow.

Even if a plant is eaten by an animal, the animal's waste material is full of things needed to make plants grow. What is more, they are even more concentrated than they were in the growing plant. That is why gardeners fin manure to be such a good fertilizer.
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