To Bag or Not to Bag

To Bag or Not to Bag

Another Edition of 'Practical Tips from the Field'

This is a quick blog post about the discussion of bagging your lawn clippings or mulching the clippings and returning them to the lawn in a residential setting. As many of us regularly mow our lawns every spring through fall this may be helpful to consider and apply to your own lawn.

Bagging

1. Slightly neater appearance than mulching

2. Helpful to pick up needles and leaves that have fallen on the lawn

3. Takes considerably more time as well as multiple start/stop of the mower using more fuel

4. Quality mowers can bag tall grass and still maintain a neat appearance

Mulching

1. Can leave grass clumps and cut rather unevenly if the grass is too tall, too wet, or the mower blades are not sharp. However if mowed on a weekly basis when the grass is growing quickly and on a biweekly basis during slower growing periods you can almost achieve the same visual appearance as a bagged lawn. Only a very close inspection will reveal otherwise.

2. Saves mowing time and thus uses less fuel

3. The major benefit for using mulching mowers is reducing landfill of grass clippings and returning nutrients to the soil which promotes a healthy turf. It is an incorrect understanding that mulching our mainly cool season, northwest lawns will build up thatch. In fact most cool season grasses in our area do not build up much thatch to begin with. Thatch is mainly composed of slowly decomposing roots and stems and not the tender grass blades that quickly decompose and return to the soil.

4. Mulching the grass clippings can also reduce the use of fertilizers. Many lawns can reduce their fertilization programs by 50-75%. For instance a lawn that is fertilized 3 times a year could drop down to once a year. This is also dependent on existing soil conditions, etc.

Suggested Mower Brands

1. Honda; stop by the local Peninsula Feed for these great mowers. We use them personally for our business. You can also purchase these from the Kitsap Tractor in Silverdale.

2. Toro; Carried by Small Engine Clinic in Silverdale