Mulch, bag, rake, or leave 'em where they land??

mdaudioguy

Spring is here. Mowed for the second time this year. So, what do you do with your grass clippings? Mine stay wherever they land, sometimes in clumps, sometimes evenly dispersed over my lawn, where they turn brown in a day or so...

BlueFox

Thanks for reminding me of what I need to do tomorrow. :mad:

I rake it up and, dump it in the street (in a nice pile) along with any bush/tree trimming. That is how yard waste is disposed of here. On trash day (Tuesday for me), three trucks come around. One is for trash. One is for recycling. And, one is for yard waste. The yard waste truck is accompanied by a tractor type vehicle with a scoop device on the front, and it picks up the yard waste, and puts it into the truck, where it gets compacted.

wayne3burk

Mulching electric lawnmower - let the mulch lie where it lays -- i mowed my weeds today as a matter of fact

RuSsMaN

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, mulch to mulch.

comfortablycurt

Leave em where they land and mow them up. I don't understand it...some people spend the time to rake up all of their leaves, and then apply all these chemical fertilizers to their lawns. Apparently these people fail to realize that a tree dropping its leaves is basically a method of self fertilization. The leaves decompose into the ground, creating fresh, nutrient rich soil that's good for your lawn and good for your trees.

Versus chemical fertilizers which are a menace to the environment.:rolleyes:

MacLeod

My back yard has a lot of bare spots. I started mulching 2 years ago and it has really made a difference. Guess it carries the seeds around or something. Who knows, but it does work. It also uses more gas but worth it IMO.

Jstas

comfortablycurt wrote: »

Leave em where they land and mow them up. I don't understand it...some people spend the time to rake up all of their leaves, and then apply all these chemical fertilizers to their lawns. Apparently these people fail to realize that a tree dropping its leaves is basically a method of self fertilization. The leaves decompose into the ground, creating fresh, nutrient rich soil that's good for your lawn and good for your trees.

Versus chemical fertilizers which are a menace to the environment.:rolleyes:

That's not entirely true. Yes, leaves have lotsa good stuff in them but they really only benefit trees and such. That's why grass grows around trees without dying. They use different nutrients from the ground. So while the tree leaves do provide a certain amount of nutrients that the grass can use, it doesn't provide all of them.

Also, leaves can throw off the balance of the soil and put too much of one nutrient in to the soil. It can throw things off to the point where bacteria that break down organic material into more basic nutrients don't work anymore and it actually can degrade the quality of your soil.

If you are going to mulch your leaves in to the soil then mulch your grass clippings as well. Otherwise, you're not putting all of the nutrients back in to the soil that the grass and trees took out.

Then again, if you do fertilize, most of the fertilizers will only be a band aid for a short time. If your soil quality is poor, the fertilizer will be like crack to your lawn. While the fertilizer is active, the lawn looks great. But if the soil quality isn't there to support that level of growth in the grass then it'll all die anyway. Gotta fix the soil and keep it healthy. Mulching nothing but leaves in to it will not do that. But, fertilizing can be good for good soil too. Fertilizers contain elements like nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium and such as well as stuff like lime and other compounds that actually promote stuff like plant growth as well as proper decomposition of dead organic matter to help keep your lawn healthy.

But, if you're like me and live in an old development with really big, old trees, there's just too many leaves to mulch. If it wasn't for the township picking them up in the fall, I could fill fifty 30 gallon bags easily. That could bury my front yard in 2 inches of dead, chopped up leaves. I'd have no lawn.


As far as what I do, I mulch. Only 'cause I don't want to bag. Besides, with the beast of a lawnmower I have, it's more of a hassle to bag when opposite rotation blades do such a good job of chopping it all up in to little bitty pieces.

Jstas

MacLeod wrote: »

My back yard has a lot of bare spots. I started mulching 2 years ago and it has really made a difference. Guess it carries the seeds around or something. Who knows, but it does work. It also uses more gas but worth it IMO.

Actually, bare spots give up moisture. Mulching provides ground cover that helps retain the moisture. Also, as it decomposes, the rotting grass clippings help "fix" the damaged soil by adding the nutrients that the growing grass took out of the soil back in to the soil.

If you aren't seeing grass that is over a foot tall with tufts of brown seed on top then you aren't spreading any seeds. Then again, you could go down to the home improvement store and get a 50 lb bag of seed and start chucking it around your backyard like it was fairy dust.

Please, take pictures. Better yet, video.

mdaudioguy

Actually, leaves are a different story; I was just curious about how folks manage grass clippings. I'm thinking of adding a mulching kit to my lawn tractor. I don't mind spreading the clippings back over the grass, but the occasional clumps cause more harm than good...

I'm sure that dedicated, designed from the get-go mulchers perform better than adding a kit, but I'm hoping it will be good enough. I know that when mulching grass, it's important to mow a little more often than I normally do.

mdaudioguy

BlueFox wrote: »

Thanks for reminding me of what I need to do tomorrow. :mad:

I rake it up and, dump it in the street (in a nice pile) along with any bush/tree trimming. That is how yard waste is disposed of here. On trash day (Tuesday for me), three trucks come around. One is for trash. One is for recycling. And, one is for yard waste. The yard waste truck is accompanied by a tractor type vehicle with a scoop device on the front, and it picks up the yard waste, and puts it into the truck, where it gets compacted.

Sorry dude! As little as my front yard gets used (never, really), I should just plant wheat or something out there and save the time and effort.

Wow, that's quite a collection operation you have where you live! Sounds expensive, too. Is this all run by your city?

treitz3

While I can't offer my experience with tractor mulchers, I can with push/propelled mowers. It all depends on the type of mower. For instance, a Craftsman mower does mulch but leaves a boatload of clumps both small and large along the way. It also clogs often, especially with damp or wet grass. This tends to be unsightly and will cause dead spots in the lawn. That said, keeping the blade as sharp as possible helps. With the Craftsman, I always achieved a better looking lawn/lawns with bagging.

When I switched to a Lawn Boy mower, everything changed. I got one with a side bagger and used it once. The Craftsman was a smarter design with the rear bagger. It could hold more clippings, was easier to maneuver around and it wasn't like trying to navigate half an airplane across the yard. It was also a *female dog* to unload, especially when wet. That said, I switched to mulching. Holy smokes, did this thing cut grass that looked like a carpet while mulching. No clumps even with wet grass after a heavy rain and it gave a surprisingly even distribution of clippings. The only clumps came off of the collection of clippings on the tires. After that experience, I have been mulching ever since with healthier lawns. Thatching isn't something I have encountered very often with mulching and the lawn seems to be less prone to bug/drought/wash away conditions. You will have to mow more often but to me, the lawn is healthier, looks better more often and it also seems to me that weeds stand less of a chance due to not having the time to mature.

It may just boil down to the blade designs because both of them were completely different. That, I don't know. What I do know is that there was a considerable difference between the lawnmowers mulching performance.

George Grand

Stand around and curse them. Then it's back inside.

schwarcw

If you have kids and don't pick up the grass clippings, chances are they will drag a ton of grass into your house if they don't take off their shoes.

I collect my clippings and racked leaves and put them into a compost pile. I use the compost for various garden uses.

Oak leaves are very acidic and can upset the pH of your soil. It can hurt the grass and require you to put down some lime to "sweetin" the soil, or actually to neutralize the acidity of the composted oak leave mulch.

Watch what the professionals do to the trophy lawns. They always pick up the clippings.

What's best for you? I depends on how good you want your yard look.

BuckeyeTim

When you mow 4+ acres, you leave them where they lie.

muncybob

BuckeyeTim wrote: »

When you mow 4+ acres, you leave them where they lie.

Yep, can't possibly pick up our grass or leaves w/o a ton of manul work or buying some kind of "sweeper"....but, we mulch everything on the ground except larger sticks/branches that get picked up before mowing. My tractor mower attachment runs at very high rpm and mulches very well and while it's true some clippings seem to follow us indoors right after we mow it seems to be only for the first day...then they "disappear".

Our lawn area looks as good as anybody's I've seen around here so something's working right.
My dad cracks me up...picks up everything when he mows, applies chemical fertilizer every year, has a sprinkler system installed and then compalins about having to cut the grass.......

sucks2beme

All my neighbors blow it out into the street with their leaf blowers.
I have a mulching mower. Unless the grass is wet or extra long,
I leave it where it lays. St. Augustine is a lot easier to do this with
than other grasses.

mudwrx

For the front lawn I collect in the lawnmower bag and dump elsewhere.

For the backyard I take the bag off and leave it.

txcoastal1

I mulch but about every 3rd mow I bag and dump them in the dog pit which is about a 5' circle in the yard where my dogs are contained to dig, keeps them in one spot

tonyb

I remember when I first moved in to the house I now have, the neighbors laughing at me. My lot is almost an acre, heavily treed, and in the fall I'd be out there raking those leaves like a moron. I asked my neighbor how come he doesn't rake them up. He told me "the leaves will take care of themselves." Sure, I mow over them, and leave them be, and gather up any huge piles around the house that the wind piles up, other than that, they really do take care of themselves.

gelinas

I'm thinking of buying a new mower, anyone have suggestions/opinions?

I'm hoping to buy something that lasts, has a bag, multches nicely, and isn't super heavy.

Sherardp

Bagged and dumped elsewhere here. It feels nice to have a lawn out here in Japan. Alot of people don't have this luxury.

txcoastal1

gelinas wrote: »

I'm thinking of buying a new mower, anyone have suggestions/opinions?

I'm hoping to buy something that lasts, has a bag, multches nicely, and isn't super heavy.

Honda unfortunatly...my dad passed and had a new honda I had just bought a brand new full blown troy built to replace my 2 yr old toro which was a lemon...the Honda kicked its **** but my mother was need and I passed it to her because it was a breeze to run....little pricey but it is a smooth ultra mulching machine

potee

I mulch and let them lie. Lawn looks as good as most in this area.

Rodeo0530

If you live around me, you just let it grow longer and longer as it continues to rain and hope that someday it will stop raining!

shawn474

Ed, this is the real trick to a healthy lawn. I have learned over 25+ years of mowing, working for landscape companies and having 2 relatives that own their own very successful lawn service.
1. A lot of the mistakes people make are in height of the cut. The shorter the grass, the more tendency it will burn and die in the heat. My tractor has six blade settings - I mow it on 5 most of the time with an occassional 4 if I know I won't be available to cut it a second time that week.
2. Leaving mulched clippings is good, but only if they are evenly spread. The clumps will kill the grass as well.
3. Leaves can be mulched, but they give off a lot of chemicals as they decompose that grass does not like and will tend not to do well in.

All that said, I bag my leaves and mulch my grass. Sometimes I have to cut the grass twice a week, but it is a small price to pay to have a green and full lawn IMHO.

Shawn

gelinas

txcoastal1 wrote: »

Honda unfortunatly...my dad passed and had a new honda I had just bought a brand new full blown troy built to replace my 2 yr old toro which was a lemon...the Honda kicked its **** but my mother was need and I passed it to her because it was a breeze to run....little pricey but it is a smooth ultra mulching machine

I do like the honda's but they are fairly pricey. That combines with the fact that because they are expensive, it is easier to find negative reviews about them (this applies to any $$$ mower).

Jstas

treitz3 wrote: »

It may just boil down to the blade designs because both of them were completely different. That, I don't know. What I do know is that there was a considerable difference between the lawnmowers mulching performance.

Sharpness is more important than blade design. Keep your blades sharp and the rest of the design will work out just fine.

Jstas

Oh, concerning clumping, I get it too, even when the grass is a reasonable height.

I get it when:
- Blades aren't sharp anymore - gotta sharpen or replace
- I'm mowing too soon after rain fall - too much moisture, clippings stick together
- Grass is too high - too tall grass clogs the mower deck with too much material
- I'm mowing too fast - Too much material is entering the mower deck before the processed material can fall to the ground

The tractor I have will mow the lawn a 30 MPH clip if I want to but that's too fast for the clippings to get chopped up in to itty bitty bits and the mower deck gets clogged with material before the already chopped up stuff can fall to the ground.

Typically though, if I get clumps, I just run over the clump, off-center, a few times and it breaks it up and distributes it pretty evenly. Really stubborn clumps either get kicked around and run over again to break them up or I just grab them and throw them in the trash.

JimKellyfan

Depends if I just spread fertilizer or grass seed, I let em fly.
But, the rest of the year, I mulch them and pile all clippings around trees or plants in the yard that need protection from drying out, as well as to be kept cool.
For near the house, I usually buy cedar chips or mulch as they help keep the bugs away.

mdaudioguy

Ok, I installed mulching blades last week, and my mulching plate arrived today (just a hard plastic cover that fits over the side-discharge area of the mower deck. We'll see how this works out...

Jstas

Advice on that, mow the lawn more often at a higher height. If the grass clippings are too large, the mulching blades won't work. If you want the grass cut short and it's real long, either mow at one height and then do a second pass at the height you want the grass at or set it at the low height and run over the whole lawn twice to make sure you get it all.