Lawn Disease Types
Mulching vs Catching your Grass clippings
Keeping your lawn smooth and green is one of life’s simple pleasures. But the dilemma of what to do with your grass clippings has plagued many a suburban gardener for years. Do you mulch them back into the lawn, or do you catch them and dispose of the clippings elsewhere?
Well, the jury is in, and the verdict is that mulching is best.
But only if you have the right lawn mower and the grass is in the right condition for mulching. Otherwise, keep on catching and composting your clippings.
Mulching Mowers: Some mowers have a mulching feature which can spread fine grass clippings across your lawn as you mow, saving you from having to collect the clippings.
Mulching your grass clippings
Composed mostly of water, mulched grass clippings break down quickly and spell good news for both your lawn and yourself. Mulched clippings will:
-
Provide up to 25% of your lawn’s nutritional needs – that is, nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus
-
Reduce your annual fertiliser bill
-
Increase the organic matter in your soil
-
Save you time and extra labour, by not having to collect and dispose of clippings
Remember, these benefits will only be realised when you mulch your lawn correctly. Here are our top tips for mulching grass clippings:
-
Don’t mulch if your lawn is overrun with weeds.
-
Don’t mulch if it is very wet or the grass is too long, as it won’t be broken down adequately
-
and will clump or form a layer over the lawn. This is called ‘thatching’.
-
Cut no more than about one third of the grass height.
-
Keep the blades very sharp.
-
Rotate mowing direction 90 degrees with each new mow.
-
Mow every 3 to 5 days over spring and summer (don’t worry, it takes a lot less time to mow when mulching).
The question is, do you need a new lawn mower to ensure that your grass is mulched correctly?
There are dedicated mulching mowers on the market, which are specially designed to recut the clippings and distribute them evenly over your lawn. These lawn mowers have mulching lawn mower blades – often called 3-in-1 blades because they cut, mulch and discharge the clippings.
Then there are combo mowers, which enable you to mulch or catch the clippings. Make sure that the mulching plug is snugly secure before you mow, to ensure the best results.
Catching weeds: If your lawn has weeds growing through it, disposing of your grass clippings can prevent the weeds spreading further through the lawn.
Catching your grass clippings
If you don’t have a mulching mower, or the conditions aren’t right, don’t despair! Catching your grass clippings can be beneficial – particularly if you deal with your grass clippings in the right way.
Here are the benefits of catching clippings:
-
You can start a compost pile that can then be used in other areas of your garden
-
It avoids thatch build-up or ‘clumping’ of the clippings on your lawn, which occurs when the grass is longer or damp after rain
-
If your lawn has an abundance of weeds, particularly during the time they go to seed, you don’t want to spread them across other areas of your lawn
So, if your grass is growing super fast and you can’t keep up with the mowing, then catching your clippings is probably your best option. That said, given that mulching will save you heaps of time each mow – and comes with all the other benefits – you’re probably better off doing more mulching mows, more often.
