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Grass clippings...

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Mulch, should never mow 1/3 the length of grass at any time. I mow regularly and keep the grass fairly short. My lawn is amazing and I don't have to use chemicals to keep it green. When you bag, you're pulling all the nutrients out of the soil and throwing it away. I like to mulch that right back into the soil, eliminating the need for any fertilizer. Every couple of years I'll spread about 1/2 inch of compost from my pile over the entire lawn in early spring. Perfect time to overseed and you'll never, ever have to fertilize. Also means much less watering, better water retention, no weeds, no patches. And takes a hellllluva lot less work in the long run than bagging the shit.
 
If grass is really long I bag (otherwise you get clumps of dead grass), if it's short I mulch. Mulching is healthier for the lawn though so I try to mow weekly and mulch.
 
Mulch, though I have to mow every three days. If I wait much longer in between I end up with clumps of grass. I have about 1/4 acre that I do with a push mower, definitely not gonna take the time to bag that shit.
 
I bag in the spring only because at that point it's too much for my mower to handle mulching without clumping. Otherwise it's mulch.
 
I get on my hands and knees and go around the yard. i search the yard for the 10 best clippings i can find. then i catalog them by date/time and weather. i list the length and weight of each clipping.

This tells me how strong and healthy my yard is.
 
My first few cuttings I had to bag, in 1 weeks time the grass would grow much to long to mulch just laying all that cut grass back down would yellow the grass left underneath it. I bagged it. Now I am able to mulch since it didnt grow out of control in the 10 days since the last cut. But I also use side chute to blow a few rows of cuts straight into the street. I do have a nice spot to begin composting but I havent taken that plunge yet.
 
Leave them, unless a chemical application requires bagging.

If you are clippings are getting clumpy/brown and looking ugly, then you aren't mowing often enough. Clippings are a major source of fertilizer to your yard. Removing them means spending more on fertilizer!
 
DrPizza said:
If they mulch up good with the lawnmower, I leave them. If I get a lot of clumps, I'll pick up the clumps and feed them to the goats. I'd let the goats mow the lawn, but the goats would be like, "fuck grass, look! Apple trees, pear trees, cherry trees, peach trees, raspberry bushes, blueberry bushes, grape vines! Woohoo!" One goat got into the back yard last year - lost a couple hundred dollars in trees in about 20 minutes.
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I hope you ate that motherfucker! 😡
 
I usually leave the clippings. Sometimes, like this past week where it rained for 8 straight days, the grass gets too tall for my mower to mulch and I have to bag them

Mixolydian said:
thatch, yo.
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Grass clippings typically don't count as thatch. Thatch is usually stems and roots but clippings will breakdown too quickly to become thatch unless you leave large piles of it on your lawn

rh71 said:
I had read it's good for the grass to leave clippings. Coincidentally today I decided to try not bagging, but only the backyard. I don't want to risk it in the front where it's too unsightly not to do something about it immediately. We'll see how it turns out in the back. It'll probably be unsightly and I'll never do it again.
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phucheneh said:
But once it's growing, I don't see why there would be any benefit. It just creates a layer of matted-up crap that inhibits further growth.
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Grass clippings break down quickly encouraging microorganisms growth and return nutrients to the lawn. If you have large piles then it will prevent sun from getting to the grass but otherwise leaving the clippings is good for your lawn. If you find you are having large clumps after leaving the clippings you should either mow more often, check your blade for sharpness or get a better mulching mower

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07007.html
 
bag and trash.

I don't really care enough about the yard to mulch or compost, I just mow as needed to prevent it from growing into a jungle.

if I actually owned this house, I'd probably tear it up all the greenery except the ivy growing on the fence and put in a hot tub + rock garden.
 
nerp said:
Mulch, should never mow 1/3 the length of grass at any time. I mow regularly and keep the grass fairly short. My lawn is amazing and I don't have to use chemicals to keep it green. When you bag, you're pulling all the nutrients out of the soil and throwing it away. I like to mulch that right back into the soil, eliminating the need for any fertilizer. Every couple of years I'll spread about 1/2 inch of compost from my pile over the entire lawn in early spring. Perfect time to overseed and you'll never, ever have to fertilize. Also means much less watering, better water retention, no weeds, no patches. And takes a hellllluva lot less work in the long run than bagging the shit.
Click to expand...

how often is regularly and do you have a riding mower? I would hate to go out there more than once a week. I've read that in order to prevent weeds (without chemicals) you need to keep the grass longer to shade them out. I have also read about the mulch helping as nutrients but obviously if I'm mowing only once a week that won't work as well.

Do you put down any crabgrass control granules or any other granules/sprays at all or is the mulch the only thing you do?
 
Mixolydian said:
bagged, set at the curb, picked up with the trash. I don't care.
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same here. Sucked last week since there was no pickup due tot eh holiday. Yesterday looking at them, I noticed the rain had soaked the bags over the week. Tried to put a second bag over it, partially successful. Last time I had put out a wet bag of week old grass, they had ripped the bag and left me a pillar or wet, nasty grass.
 
JTsyo said:
same here. Sucked last week since there was no pickup due tot eh holiday. Yesterday looking at them, I noticed the rain had soaked the bags over the week. Tried to put a second bag over it, partially successful. Last time I had put out a wet bag of week old grass, they had ripped the bag and left me a pillar or wet, nasty grass.
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don't they just come the day after the holiday? I guess that's where our extra tax dollars go...
 
Bagging just ensures that the nutrients leave your lawn, fertilizer companies would love for you to bag all your yard waste!
 
Why are you asking? You haven't cut your grass in months!

BTW, with the length of your grass, I would do 2-3 passes, stepping down each time if you are gonna mulch it, even with your riding mower.

I mulch.
 
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