Mulching mowers do an excellent job of chopping the clippings into small pieces. Keeps organic “waste” out of the trash stream.The decaying clippings enrich the soil with organic matter.According to Penn State University turfgrass researchers, allowing the clippings to decay in place provides about one-third of the lawn's total nitrogen needs for the season.
Clippings that can be seen even in small piles should be raked up and preferably composted or used as a mulch over garden beds.Ĭlippings can provide one-third of your lawn’s Nitrogen needs They’ll mat down the living grass blades and shut off the sun’s rays, which will yellow the grass and encourage diseases. What to do with grass clippings?īig piles of clippings are bad news because they can’t be left on the lawn. That’s not only a shock to the grass but creates an unusually large mass of clippings. It’s much better to cut that often than to wait a few more days and end up having to whack 3 inches off of a 6-inch stand. When grass is growing fastest in mid-spring, this may mean mowing twice a week or every four or five days. Severe cutbacks are much more stressful on grass than lighter cuts and require more energy to heal. And that’s a form of injury to the grass plants. A good rule of thumb is to mow the lawn often enough so you’re never removing more than one-third of the blade length at a time. Don’t wait too long between mowsĪ second important issue is how often to mow.
That can help head off early-spring fungal problems such as snow mold. The exception is toward the end of the season when it makes sense to cut a little shorter so the grass blades will dry faster over winter. Grass grows faster after it’s been cut short as it tries to rebuild itself to its genetic norm.Ī good in-season height for most turfgrasses is 2½ to 3 inches - typically the highest setting on mowers. The theory that cutting short lengthens the time between cuts also doesn’t hold up. Most people are just as happy with a 3-inch-tall evenly cut lawn as a 1-inch-tall evenly cut lawn. What makes a mown lawn look good is the evenness of the cut - not its height. When taller grass blades aren't shading them out, weeds germinate better and get off to a faster start.It allows the soil to dry out faster, which increases the negative effects of drought.(Longer blades indicate that there is more chlorophyll per grass plant, resulting in more vigorous grass.) It reduces the amount of chlorophyll available for the grass roots to produce energy.As the grass tries to recover from near-total decapitation, it increases moisture and nutrient demands.It all starts with grass heightĬutting grass too short is the most common mowing blunder made by the average homeowner. Mowing the lawn is, in fact, the most undervalued and overlooked aspect of good lawn care. How you mow, when you mow, and what you do with the clippings all have an impact on how well your lawn performs. But, as any lawn expert will tell you, there's a lot more to it than that. You simply start the mower, yank the cord, and walk or ride around the yard for a while. Mowing the lawn appears to be a simple task.
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