Clippings?

[dan_greenthumb]

What is the most efficient way to deal with clippings?

[mcwlandscaping]

mulch or side discharge the clippings.....do a search there are probably hundreds of threads about this topic.....btw, welcome to LS

[TMGL&L]

don't just mulch the clippings it doesn't look as clean and definitely isn't professional.

Find a farm near by and talk to the farmer. That's what I did. I found a farmer who mixes all my grass clipping with manure and spreads it on his fields. I dump a heaping pickup truck load every week and its completly free and minutes from all my mowing locations.

[MattsMowing3535]

Do not bag your lawns!!! It isnt healthy for the turf, sure it isnt good to have alot of thatch build up but you need some thatch!!! Side Discharge or mulch I only side discharge and if it clumps a little on the lawn blow it around with the blower and its gone.

[Ric3077]

Do not bag ever! As mentioned, just mulch or side discharge or do a little of each. As long as you don't cut the grass in half you will have no sign of any clippings...if the grass gets longer...raise the deck a bit.

[M&SLawnCare]

This is something you need to decide for yourself. Anyone that says "do not bag ever", or that says "you should bag everything" for whatever reason is wrong. Different locations, turf conditions, weather conditions, customer expectations, avalible dumping areas, and so on determine what is actually best for you. Some locations you need to bag every yard to stay in busness. Other areas nobody ever bags.

Personally I only bag one yard year round (at the customers request), but in the spring i'll generally bag a good amount of my yards. If i just S/D everything in the spring it would actually take me longer (double and obviously tripple cutting an entire lawn takes longer than bagging it for me) and it still wouldn't leave anywhere near as clean of a look. In summer/fall i S/D almost everything (debating switching to mulching next year) and just bag here and there when the grass gets thick.

[dan_greenthumb]

Well, I am planning to mulch as much as possible. I figure that if my accnts are on a schedule, I shouldn't have a problem with over grown grass. I only see myself bagging only at the end of the season. S/D to me seems like a waste of time. I like the idea with striping, so i will sometimes make multiple passes, depending on pattern. Is blowing a lawn after a mow regular practice?

[MattsMowing3535]

Id have to say go out and try S/D and then try mulch I only blow off the lawn when it starts to really grow in the spring and stuff usualy instead of a double cut on a small lawn. You can strip just fine mulching or S/D it actauly might be better if your not mulching but Im not totaly sure.... Seems that you have alot more suction with S/D so you would have alot more to bend the grass over.

[Roger]

... sure it isnt good to have alot of thatch build up but you need some thatch!!! ...

Thatch is not related to clippings. Thatch is the residue of the crowns of the plants having died off. It has nothing to do with clippings being taken off, or left lay on the turf.

If discharged or mulched clippings are heavy, and left lay, unable to degrade between mowings, then a buildup will happen. This is merely excessive clipping burden, and is not thatch.

[MattsMowing3535]

I see... Well I'm still learning, I am only 16. Thanks for letting me know, It isn't healthy to bag all the time though is it? Because the grass breaks down and gives the grass nutrients doesn't it? Please let me know if I'm totally off on this...

[TSG]

Since the clipping are 95 % water, leaving them in the lawn helps during the dry time
We bad once in the spring when we power rake
and once in the Fall for cleanup
Side discharge the rest of the time.
You can side discharge with mulchers to make the clipping a little smaller
but that is another topic

[Vikings]

I bag with my 21" mowers now because they don't mulch well especially in the spring. I bag it and leave it there.

My 36" with mulch kit on.. well I don't have a choice. I have a 22,000sq ft yard and the guy insisted it be bagged and taken away. I just mulched and he hasn't noticed a difference in 3 months.

Nobody and I mean NOBODY side discharges in my city except for the city doing blvds and ditches.

[M.C.L.C.]

We use walker mowers and bag almost every property we have unless of course they have a massive lawn or a field area then we use the side discharge grasshopper mowers. This is a weekly mowing, always collecting the clippings, and our lawns are the greenest on the block. Most of our customers have a sprinkler system, so water isn't an issue. Most people around here anyways want the clipping gone, looks more professional and crisp. Anything we have to mulch we usually cut at least twice to make sure no clippings are left that are visible. We use a giant roll off dumpster and have the trash company come pick it up with their semi trucks. Not that expensive and saves from having to take it to a farm. Of course for this you would need a bobcat or something that could lift the grass into the container. You could always get a smaller dumpster that you could hand shovel the grass into.

[deere615]

[QUOTE=Vikings;1926625]
My 36" with mulch kit on.. well I don't have a choice. I have a 22,000sq ft yard and the guy insisted it be bagged and taken away. I just mulched and he hasn't noticed a difference in 3 months.[QUOTE]

lol thats funny:laugh:

[TMGL&L]

If your lawns are properly fertilized and irrigated mulching grass isn't necassary. The Honda HRX has a setting on it to set ratio of bagging or mulching however you like 10%, 20%, 30%, and on up. I use this feature on lawns all the time to get the benefits of both bagging and mulching. I always lean toward bagging its cleaner.

...Walk through a fresh cut mulched lawn and then say that its clean...it's not

Bag if you can it's better. Mulch when you need too.