bag or mulch?

[GLS]

I know many of you will tell me that bagging is a waste of time/money, but other than that, does mulching make the lawn look better than bagging, or is bagging better? I know mulching is supposed to put nutrients etc. back into the soil. So bottom line: what looks better, mulched or bagged?

[PAPS]

99% of my clients request there lawns to be caught... we have a few that are cut without catchers, but overall appearance i would say bagged is better.

[MOW ED]

It depends on many factors including overall health of the lawn, fertilizing and irrigation. In general a lawn needs around 4# of nitrogen per year. Bagging reduces the available nitrogen to a lawn. If the lawn is mulched correctly then you should see no evidence of clippings. The lawn should be cut as needed and not mulched when there is excess top growth. When you see clumps its generally a bad thing.
Heat is the big helper in mulching as the heat decomposes the clippings if they are in manageable size.

Bagging does make the lawn look good. I do both and charge a premium to bag and remove. Usually its the people with the pools or the real old folks who have it in mind that it just has to be bagged.
With proper fert and irrigation both can be managed profitably.

[MowJo]

If the conditions are right a mulched lawn can look just as nice as a bagged lawn.

I have a Walker with 2 decks (the 48" catcher & the 62" side discharge).

Many of my customers are high end residential who like their grass caught. What I discovered is that the 62" (with a mulch kit) mulches well enough that they can't tell a difference! Another cool thing is that the Walker has a permanent grass hopper and most customers just assume I'm catching! Sure sometimes I'll double cut a spot to disperse the clipping better, but the time & energy I save by not catching grass is a huge advantage.

Anybody wanna buy a 48" deck!:D

[sheppard]

I seriously looked at Walkers for a while- especially after I demo'd one on my worst yard. It looked fantastic. Problem was I read so much that mulching was by far better, long-term, for any yard.

Here is something I do regularly on lawns that reguire and extra good look. I start a path down the middle of the lot and mulch to the outside of the lawn. At the end of the property I turn around and go back on myself and mulch to the other side(next to) the strip I just cut. Toward the end it is a bit non-effecient to make the 'cut acrosses' but any seepedge from under the deck is remulched this way. Man does it look good.

Maybe everyone already does this. I thought of it a while back and decided to look for a post to toss this application out for consideration.

Cordially,
Sheppard
Salter Lawn Care, Inc.

[BRIAN GALLO]

If the lawn is kept nice and you can cut it often, mulching looks fine. However if the lawn is thick, wet or high, I think side disharging is the way to go. If you're not messy with it, side discharge looks every bit as good as bagged because you get a lot of lift which stands the grass up, mulching tends to flatten the look of the grass.

[Lawn Dog2001]

All we do is mulch. If you keep your blades sharp, your decks clean, and stay away from extremely wet grass, mulching looks just as good as bagging. Most people could not tell the difference between a good mulch job and a bagged job. The downside is that in the Spring, it is often neccesary to double cut lawns to make them look their best. But it still saves time and money not to have to bag and remove the clippings. In extreme cases I will run over clumps with a 21" bagger. Thats only it very tall wet grass.

[LAWNGODFATHER]

I/we bag zero (0) lawns.

With the ocasional little bit of thatch laying on top, just run over that area again and whala gone. Some times the deck has to be raise up a 1/2", but bagging has no real suggnifagant advantage over using commercial mowers on lawns.

Now if it was a home howner using a craftsmen or snapper comet, the it would be a whole different story.

[keifer]

I think the bag looks better but does need more fert and TLC if it is bagged 100%.

[65hoss]

It depends on your mower and if you are using a real mulching kit. I run mulch kits on my eXmarks. On bermuda and zoysia, it looks just like it was bagged. No brag, just fact. Its unbelievable the way they mulch. 100% clean lawn after 1 time over.

[KirbysLawn]

Originally posted by PAPS
Re: Hands down... bagged

What do you do with your clippings? Here in NC state law prohibits yard waste, including grass clippings, from being discarded in landfills (as of January 1, 1993). LEaving clipping on the lawn has several advantages, one is the fact that leaving grass clippings on your lawn can generate up to 25% of the lawn's yearly fertilizer needs. I bag ZERO, even leaves! Everything goes back into the soil.

There is much information on why this is the way to go, if when you mow the yard looks like crap re-evaluate your mowing schedule, blade type, and fertilizing habits.

Here is a little reading material:

http://www.co.mo.md.us/services/dep/Grasscycling/home.html

http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/organics/grasscycling/

http://www.co.boulder.co.us/bcrca/grasscyc.htm

[scagman]

Im almost positive that im buying the Exmark Viking 48". It comes with a fixed deck and a 15 hp kawi only. If I put a mulch kit on it and run doubles will this mulch as good as a Turf tracer hp. Does the floating deck have any advantages over the fixed deck when it comes to mulching. What blades should I put on this if I want to mulch and sometimes bag?

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Scagman;

Same tri vantage deck

NOPE

Gator

Does this mean your LS name will change to eXmarkman?

[David Haggerty]

I'll run double blades to mulch 'em a little on their way out the chute.

You gotta disperse bluegrass if you're mowing off more than 1/4".

No bagging, no mulching (clumping) mowers.

Dave

[Atlantic Lawn]

We try to enlighten our customers and explain mulchin' is the only way to go, we cut mainly Bermuda. We do have several $1 mil+ homes who get bagged.They're acustomed to having things done their way.

[big james]

Removing and installing the mulch kits on these Exmarks is NOT something you want to be doing every day ,it's to much work . Irun the mulch kit in Fall and Winter ,but when spring rolls around they come off! Like LAWNGODFATHER said you can go over what's left laying on top once or twice and it's GONE!!:D

[scagman]

I think I would rather bag than go over a lawn twice. I dont know much about mulching, mulch kits, and blades. I thought the mulch kit would just pop off. Ill bag until I get a 60" lazer. I wont even buy the bagging system. I tried to change my name, but dont know how?

[big james]

Scagman,
You won't have to go over entire lawn twice! mow towards the inside to gather clippings ,then just go ver that spot till no more clippings are evident , Trust me it's a whole lot faster and easier than bagging .And if you cut every week you won't have to double cut at all! These Exmarks disperse clipping REAL GOOD !.:D ;)

[scagman]

Will the 48" viking with 15hp have enough to mulch without clumping and pull a sulky. (im 170)

[Mowman]

I own a Walker MT w/ 52" SD deck. I'm running the double blade set-up on it and all my lawns look as if they were bagged. No grass to dispose of and less time to cut. Also the nutrients go right back into the lawn. Bagging is just not my BAG!!!!!

Mowman

[big james]

yes it will ! Iuse exmarks regular blades ,they have more lift than gators .:D I also flip up the discharge chute when the wind permits ,and I always cut them discharge chutes off about half way . Somtimes when it clumps you can wait for the water to 'FALL OUT ' and go over those clumps again .The only time I have any clumping probs. is in the Spring when all that different cool season stuff pops up and it is loaded with water .In those conditions you gotta side discharge and go over the clumps regardless of mower brand. Later on in my St. Augustine /bermuda /centipede lawns I use gators or Exmarks mulch blades just to get a little bit smaller clipping , then when the leaves turn loose I throw them mulch kits on one at a time so I have a Mower with a mulch kit and a mower without then when grass growth stops I put mulch kits on all of them .It takes about an hour and amark mulch kit on ,some people are probably faster than me ,But I have run into the problem of their mulch kits needing a little hammering and grinding in order to fit However the last one I bought fit perfectly:D They do an amazing job of mulching leaves .

[big james]

yes it will ,aslong as your cutting as reasonable intervals

[Barringtonbro's]

I find its all in the type of blade and how well your mower side discharges. I always use gator or atomic blades on my equipment. If I have a few clumps a quick hit with a blower will take care of it. This will work even on cold wet thick grass in the fall. Just keep those blades sharpe and the deck clean. I however do prefer bagging at times where there is a high risk of some one or something being hit by debries. The time and cost of bagging those places is not near the cost of getting sued. Just got to know your lawn, each lawn has its own personality. But I would say if you do it right there is no need to bag. Save it for the fall when you will get to breath in all that fun leaf dust. Yummy!

[big james]

Ihear you , I wear a good resperater whaen I mulch them leaves.

[65hoss]

Originally posted by scagman
Will the 48" viking with 15hp have enough to mulch without clumping and pull a sulky. (im 170)


Heck yes! My 36" metro belt drive with a 12.5 hp kawi pulled the sulky with a 240lbs guy in 2000.