Lawn Care.....Bag, mulch or just leave it?

[jerrybob]

Having a discussion with a couple of neighbors about what we do with lawn cuttings. I bag sometimes.....and just leave it lay the rest of the time. One neighbor always bags......he thinks it looks cleaner. One neighbor has a mulch blade and attachment.....he says it works OK. One neighbor just cuts and leaves it lay......says he's to lazy to bag. Everyone agrees.....leaving some clippings at times is good for the yard. I also use my bagger for leafs in the fall. What are you folks doing??

 

[JN4310]

I always mulch, grass and leaves.

 

[Tig]

Mulch all that I can, even leaves, to avoid depleting the soil.
Any problem areas are tidied up with a rake and composted or dug into the garden.
Most of the soil in my yard is pretty weak and I'm trying to avoid fertilizers as much as I can.

 

[V1Rotate]

I always leave the clippings. If the grass is long i wil go over it a second time to re-cut the clippings so they will disappear into the lawn.

 

[caps]

I use a mulching blade and leave it. If you mow slowly it will cut up the grass and leaves into very small pieces that disappear in a couple days.

 

[TomSeller]

The secret to a carefree lawn is to leave the clippings and don't water the lawn. If you water it, it just grows and needs to be mowed again.

 

[Gary Fowler]

The secret to a carefree lawn is to leave the clippings and don't water the lawn. If you water it, it just grows and needs to be mowed again.

The secret to watering is to water it deeply but only about once per week when in drought conditions. This promotes deep root growth and makes the grass more hardy and resistant to dry conditions.

 

[DT86]

The secret to a carefree lawn is to leave the clippings and don't water the lawn. If you water it, it just grows and needs to be mowed again.

You're my kind of guy! And what about fertilizing the lawn? I would never!

 

[TomSeller]

You're my kind of guy! And what about fertilizing the lawn? I would never!

Heck no. Then it just turns green again. And needs to be mowed.

 

[Bird]

I used to have a 3-way walk behind mower; mulch, bag, or side discharge, but my current ZTR is bag or side discharge. First mowing of the year, I cut it very short and bag the clippings. Then for most of the year, it's side discharge and if the grass is too tall I may run over any windrows of grass to chop it up a little smaller. And in the Fall, I'll use the bagger again to collect the leaves.

You say a neighbor always bags because it looks cleaner. I agree with him. It will look cleaner; no chopped up twigs, leaves, or maybe even someone's gum wrapper or cigarette butt. But it doesn't look bad if you don't have trash in the yard.