Are you a Mulcher or a Dethatcher?

[Raddad]

I’ve seen many posts by people with grass catchers and many by people without and so as I see it we have some mulchers and some who do not mulch. I understand the difference of opinion of these two groups. Removing thatch is something I’ve never done. It seems to me to be a contradiction to mulch and dethach your lawn at the same time. Isn’t dethaching removing all the mulch that’s in the grass decomposing and creating all that great compost?

For someone with a grass catcher dethaching shows a consistency of thought that makes since to me. I can understand people with a grass catcher possibly making some sense out of dethaching their lawns. Dethaching and mulching are incompatible and should not be done on the same lawn. Are you a thatcher or a mulcher? One or the other but not both. Thatchism or Mulchism, pick just one!

 

[Rusty]

Are you a thatcher or a mulcher? One or the other but not both. Thatchism or Mulchism, pick just one!

I am a Mulcher. Most of the time my grass trimmings go right back into the lawn. There are exceptions. Today, I intend to mow leaves. If I have areas where the leaves hide the grass after mowing, I may sweep them up. During the grass growing season, I use the sweeper to pickup grass clippings that are readily apparent (usually from mowing wet or long grass). I have not used the sweeper the last four mowings, since changing to high-lift blades on my mmm. I have thatched my lawn once in the last 35 years (about 25 years ago). My lawn is not a show place, but it is nice. The neighbors' lawns that are nicer than mine both have in-ground watering systems, which mine does not.

 

[Pooh_Bear]

Are you a thatcher or a mulcher?

Neither. I'm a cut it and let lay where it falls person.
It was a cowfield and I just started mowing it.
I don't dethatch, mulch, fertilize, overseed, or anything else.
I just mow it. Period.

And I have the best lawn in the neighborhood.
All my neighbors have told me how much they love my yard.
And what do I do to keep it looking so nice. I say I just mow it.

Pooh Bear.

I don't mow the lawn. I do battle with the vegetation.

 

[Bird]

Are you a thatcher or a mulcher? One or the other but not both. Thatchism or Mulchism, pick just one!

I guess I'm not supposed to answer since you said I can't be both. When I lived in the city before I retired, I had one of the nicest lawns in the neighborhood. It was never dethatched in the 11+ years we lived there, but I used a grass catcher on the mower. Then when we lived in the country and had nearly 3 of our 10 acres as "yard" (wouldn't necessarily say it qualified as a lawn), I mowed with either the tractor powered finish mower or a riding mower, no grass catcher, no dethatching; just left it where it fell. And now I'm back in town with a small lawn, but I have a little ZTR mower; no grass catcher because (1) they're too expensive, and (2) they're too big to easily store. So I guess you could say I'm a mulcher since the ZTR is set up for that. However, two or three times a year, I tow the dethatcher around over the lawn, then tow the lawn sweeper to pick up clippings and/or leaves.

 

[Doc_Bob]

Mulcher only. Too much work to collect the clippings. I fertilizer once a year in late Fall. My lawn grows too well already.
Bob

 

[daTeacha]

I'm pretty much of the chew it up and spit it persuasion myself. I've also never been a person to get real excited about having an acre or so of monoculture grass all the same exact height and density and then diamond cutting it to win the "best lawn" plaque. My BIL did that once just to tick off his neighbors -- he'd cut it and such when everyone else was at work, using the same skills and equipment he uses at work on the golf course. His subdivision actually does have a rotating sign for the best lawn!

Me? I just mow whatever comes up and hope more of it grows in the wooded pasture area than does in the lawn area. I'll confess to using some grass seed in the past, but not much and only on areas that were either excavated or filled with the dirt taken out from somewhere else. Fertilizer comes from letting the sheep graze the lawn a couple of times each year and chewing up the leaves with the mower in the fall.

 

[Doc_Bob]

I cut my lawn at the highest setting. 3 inches tall after it is cut. Looks better, no scalping and tolerates dry weather much better. Also, hides the grass clipping better.
Bob

 

[Richard]

I on the other hand, cut mine as short as the mower will cut. That's for two reasons, first... the height adjuster handle broke and my mower deck is STUCK down at "max low" until I can get the handle welded/fixed.

The second reason I cut it so short (prior to handle breaking I cut it short, but not AS short) is when we walk the dogs out in the field, I'd return with at worse, the bottom of my pant legs soaked or if grass wasn't 'at length', only dew soaked shoes.

Because of all that, I cut my stuff on the shorter side, not worrying about scalping (after I scalp enough, it should be self limiting?). Nor do I worry about dead spots. Not had any up to now so they just aren't a concern for me. If it got to be a REAL dry spell, the grass wouldn't grow and I wouldn't need to cut it so that balances out (to me).

 

[RalphVa]

I've been a mulcher ever since they became fairly widely available. They also do a good job on leaves.

Have used a dethacher if the grass looks kinda ratty, not the case since moving here and doing regular mowing at high height (about 3-3.5"). Mowing high leaves more space for the clippings to dwell without becoming a problem and shades out a lot of the low-growing weeds. Many weeds will disappear if you mow them before they seed. Grass will then take over.

Ralph

 

[JimParker]

Richard, my parents live in Knoxville, and like you, I used to cut their grass pretty short there - maybe 1 1/2 inches? Plenty of rain, and fairly moderate summer heat...

But here in the Dallas area, with the summer droughts we've been having, I mow at 3 inches - when I'm lucky enough to need to mow. We've had so little rain that the entire 2 acres is nearly dead, except next to the foundation, where we water to keep the slab from cracking... And of course, the hardiest weeds that still seem to sprout in the middle of the dead sea of grass...

But to the OP, I always mulch - never dethatch. When it's not "dead" from lack of rain, it looks pretty darn good! I mulch the leaves in the fall, also.

 

[Doc_Bob]

. We've had so little rain that the entire 2 acres is nearly dead,

It is not dead, it is just "sleeping".
Bob

 

[JimParker]

Yeah... Sleepin' with the fishes! It's pretty sad at my "city" house. Now my "country lot" (future home/mini-ranch) is still quite beautiful, with tall, waving grass just waiting for my MX5... The JD3320 gets delivered tomorrow, and I can't sleep at all!

 

[Pooh_Bear]

Place I used to live at was a pain in the neck to keep mowed.
Got a local news station that has a different expert on their show every morning taking calls and answering questions. One particular morning they had a lawn care expert. He got calls asking about all kinds of weeds, and fertilizing, and mostly moss. People had moss in their yard and wanted to know how to get rid of it. I had moss in my yard too. So I called in. And I got thru while he was on the air. My question was: "Half my yard is in deep shade and is covered with thick lush green moss. The other half is grass and I have to keep mowing it. The moss never needs mowed. How can I get the moss to take over over the rest of my yard so I never have to mow again." The expert and the newscaster almost did a doubletake, they were stunned. The guy didn't really know how to answer a question like that. Said you will have to plant more trees and get the rest of your yard in deep shade and keep it moist.

My yard now (we moved) is just whatever comes up. If I have to do any earthmoving to fill in a ditch or dig a trench somewhere I don't even use grass seed any more. I use bird seed. 50 pound bag of grass seed: $40, 50 pound bag of bird seed, $10. And it works just as well.

Pooh Bear's Place. (you can see my yard here)

Pooh Bear

 

[TMcD_in_MI]

I think a lot of folks have jumped on the dethatching bandwagon who could have saved their time and fuel money for something they really need to get done. In order to need dethatching, you first need to have thatch, and the most common guideline I've seen says that the thatch needs to be thicker than 1/2 inch before you need to do anything about it.

Go out in your lawn and cut a thin wedge of sod out and look at the brown matted layer of old grass stems and roots. (Not the fluffy brown grass blades that you may see.) Unless you have a showplace lawn due to a regular fertilizing and watering program, I'll bet you don't see much thatch there.

Here's a short page explaining it better than I can and showing a picture of real thatch.
Turf 101: Thatch

Maybe some of you can go watch a football game, instead of dethatching your lawn.

Tom

 

[Charlesaf3]

As I understand it, core aerating is much better than dethatching.

 

[dusty74]

90% of my yard is MOSS how and what is a cheap way to kill yard MOSS.

 

[nspec]

mulch all mowing season, aerate in the fall before the last 1 or 2 mowings.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

Mow, let the clippings fall...that's it...

Probably will be using the Cyclone Rake next year...

 

[Dr_Zinj]

I mulch.
Of course in New England we get plenty of rain and have plenty of bacteria, fungi, and small invertebrates that will compost the clippings into soil right in your yard.
Even works for the leaves in the fall as long as I spread them evenly around the yard.

De-thatching may be necessary in places that don't have the biosphere to break down the grass.

 

[rjwerth]

I mulch and then core aerate in the spring. Dethatching seems silly to me under normal circumstances. I do, however, bag the leaves once they start really falling. There would be no way to mulch them all where I am.