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mulch mowing

15 years ago

I grew up in Illinois and we never bagged our clippings and threw them out. Even before there were mulching mowers, the only time we removed the clippings was when they were so thick they'd kill the grass. And then, we'd rake them and compost them.

In my neighborhood, I think I'm the only one who doesn't bag my clippings.

Is this common in Utah, or is my neighborhood unique?

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Comments (10)

theoriginalskooby
15 years ago
I don't understand it at all. It seems senseless to bag up something useful and toss it out. Sorry baggers. The only time I attach my bag is when I need the clippings for something else. It might be that the word hasn't gotten out that mulching saves water and feeds the lawn. I also think that some people might be afraid of the decaying material hurting their lawn somehow. Whenever I see someone throwing the clippings out I always mention the benefits and time savings of mulching.
pinepixy
15 years ago
I too have some neighbors that bag their grass clippings and they are very set in their ways about this. I am the one that benefits though because they give me all their bagged clippings. I compost them with pine needles and all that annoying junk mail that I get! :)
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Sounds like the blade installation might be the trick, especially given the unevenness mentioned. I flipped the blade on a Husqvarna I sued at our last house for detail mowing and had some similar results. On the general topic, I've had good success with mulch mowing over the years. But our present property is reasonably large (over 3 acres). Since it takes about 3.5 hours on the tractor to do the basic mowing (not to mention more time for detailed push mowing, string trimming and edging...yeesh) it isn't practical to mow it more than once a week in total, maybe hitting the longer areas twice a week if time allows. So I have run into occasions where the amount of grass laying after mowing is unacceptable (and unhealthy!). And yes, I do try to avoid cutting more than one-third of the blade height. In those cases, I use a lawn sweeper to pick up the clippings and use them in a rather large compost area I have going. The sweeper (I got Craftsman's version of the Agri-Fab Smart-Sweep) was about a third of the cost of the JD power bagger for my tractor, and is simple, easy and quick to use. It also leaves a gorgeous striping effect which I enjoy. There are plenty of small push-type lawn sweepers available that you might consider after checking into the blade situation and other suggestions received here. I like the idea of returning those nutrients to the soil as much as possible, but also recognize the realities of mowing, especially during a relative wet spell that we've had in the east this year so far. I've used the sweeper probably every other mowing until this week when the rainfall was more moderate and the grass simply hasn't grown as much. My 80% fescue lawn looks great and healthy. Mowing long (3.5 inches), proper fertilizing after a soil test, judicious use of Weed-B-Gone, mulch mowing and occasional sweeping have really done the trick for my 3 year old lawn. Oh, that, and relatively moderate weather the last two years!
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cyclewest
15 years ago
I've never attached my bag. I was sold on the idea after reading a pamphlet on grasscycling (and that was even before I was big on cycling). I was renting at the time but decided it was a no brainer to cut it and keep it.

Question for those who get clippings from others. How long since the last "weed and feed" before it is safe to use clippings as a mulch around other plants, specifically, around edibles? I keep wanting to tell my neighbors to hand over their clippings, especially when they complain about how much space it takes in their garbage can ... but wonder about the affect of what has been added to it. I know on two sides they use the Scotts lawn service...
bpgreen
Original Author
15 years ago
I think it's safe to compost the clippings that had weed and feed used on them, but I don't know about using them directly as mulch.
pinepixy
15 years ago
cyclewest, I agree with bpgreen. This website has a little info: http://www.watoxics.org/homes-and-gardens/fastfacts/fastfacts-fertilizer.

It sure would be funny if your yard looked as good or better than their treated yards after you fertilized it with compost made from their grass clippings!
cyclewest
15 years ago
Three mowings after application of herbicides seems to be the recommendation for use as a mulch, of course, it's probably best to just add to a compost pile...

Here is a link that might be useful: University of Illinois extension
arctictropical
15 years ago
I haven't bagged lawn clippings for years, and have never raked or "de-thatched" my lawn. The clippings always decompose throughout the growing season. In my opinion, there is no reason to spend the time catching them.
stevation
15 years ago
I usually mulch mow as well, but there are few times I bag it:

- When I need clippings for compost
- When the grass gets too long and it will leave piles of clippings if I don't bag it
- In the late fall when there's too much leaf litter and I want to clean up the lawn

I just bought a new mulching blade for my old mower to see if it works better at chopping up the clippings more finely but I'm not sure I like it. After using it the first time, my lawn seemed uneven -- there were bumps of different heights, and I'm not sure how it came out that way.
bpgreen
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the answers everybody. I guess it's not everybody in the state, but it sure seems to be everybody in my neighborhood.

I've never used a mulching blade, but I've had better mulching with a mulching mower than a non mulching mower (I think most newer mowers are mulching mowers). The difference seems to be that they cover the outlet for the grass so it stays under the deck longer and gets cut more than once.

I think I read on another forum that some of the mulching blades are dull when new and need to be sharpened before use. I would think they'd want to ship them sharp in the first place, but you might want to check to see if the blade is sharp.
Alliegator
15 years ago
I'm not sure about my new neighborhood yet, but it seemed like most of my neighbors in our old neighborhood bagged theirs (or dumped them over the fence into my compost pile- I'm really going to miss that this year!).

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