After mowing the lawn, everyone wants a nice, neat look that is free of grass clippings. Most people think to achieve this grass-clipping-free-lawn is to bag the clippings while mowing. This involves stopping every so often to dump the grass clippings into a trash bag, then haul the clippings to the curbside on trash day.
There is an easier way to achieve this nice, neat-looking lawn with far less work and far more environmentally friendly practices! Mulching your lawn gives you the neat, finished look of a lawn that the grass clippings were bagged, at half the time and saves you money in yearly fertility.
Always make sure you are mowing your Fescue lawn, Ryegrass lawn, or Bluegrass lawn at a tall mowing height. While some publications will tell you 3 to 4 inches is acceptable, I recommend a minimum mowing height of 4-inches for residential lawns. The 4-inch height helps add a more full and lush appearance. The longer blade helps fight off diseases naturally, and there is less stress on the grass plant during times of high summer heat. Don’t worry that a taller mowing height will have to be mowed more often, it will not. Much like a haircut, a low 2-inch lawn mowing will outgrow its cut at the same rate as a longer haircut or a 4-inch lawn cut. The biggest difference will be a lawn with a far healthier appearance at 4-inches as opposed to a scalped look a 2-inch cut gives your lawn.
Now what to do with those grass clippings….
Mulching your grass clippings gives your lawn the same look as a lawn that had its clippings bagged at half the time and effort. As mentioned above you do not have to stop to empty your bag into a trash bag and then haul it to the curbside on trash day. Additionally, the leaf tissue being returned to the ground releases the nutrients in the leaf blade back into the soil, so your fertility lasts far longer, saving you money and effort. With mulching, landfill space is not being used up with recyclable materials. When it comes to the fall leaf raking/removal, mulching cleans your lawn while keeping the organic material in your soil and the landfills have less waste.
Almost all mowers come with a mulching attachment and/or mulching blades. Consult your make and model on the internet to see how easy it is to convert your current mower into a mulching mower… it is usually just a matter of a few bolts. When buying new, always ask your dealer to attach the mulching kit. Again, most models sold on the market today come with this option.
If you have any questions about the benefits of mulching your grass clippings, feel free to reach out to me (Mike Brown, President, Genesis Sod Farms) at mbrown@genesisfarms.com. I’d love to hear from you!
