What's States Bag grass???

[Doc Pete]

Here in New Jersey all the condos, malls, small shops and most houses that have lawn services bag the grass. In what other States is bagging popular.
Thanks,
Pete

[JasperStorm]

Washington State

[MOW ED]

Its only popular here in Wisconsin at certain times of the year and on certain properties.

Most customers want a nice looking lawn, if you can provide that then you don't have to bag. I cannot believe some of the work people do with the windrows of grass all over.
I myself bag 2 of 24 customers on a weekly basis. One has a swimming pool and the other has an on site compost pile. I run a Walker as primary mower and have a 52SD deck as my main cutter.

There are lots of homeowners who bag themselves and bring the grass to the cities compost site.

[BigJim]

New Zealand State:D

[Ajays]

We only bag in the early spring and late fall when there is a lot of growth or leaves to pick up. The rest of the year we mulch just fine. In NC a lot of people do it this way.

[ilovethisgame]

Bagging is still prefered in California from my expierence. I believe it's mostly due to the fact most lawns are fairly small and most counties provide green waste recycling cans to homeowners.

-Dave

[rvsuper]

I see alot of people doing it in Iowa.

[rodfather]

Baggin' Pete?...

...run doubles and/or cut twice and you will substantially eliminate the need/amount of bagging the clippings. Email me and I will tell how to get around most of this.

rod

[GrassMaster84]

It's mixed here in Tennesse, some bag, some mulch, some side discharge, a lot of people use walkers is residential areas and smaller yards etc., on big lots and larger areas I just side discharge!....;)

[65hoss]

The ones bagging are using Walkers. Mulching is mostly eXmarks, and everything else is usually sidedischarging. As for me, I don't bag grass.

[yardmonkey]

In Norman, Oklahoma it looks like all the big lawn services bag all their lawns. They all haul big loads of grass to the compost site every day. I also see lots of scrappy looking solo operators dumping a truckload at the end of the day. I don't think this has anything to do with the state or the location. It has to do with the education level of the customers and the operators. Most customers and most LCOs are not aware that it is totally insane to bag grass clippings. Every mower made in the last 10-15 years is a mulching mower. Every book on lawn care states that you should always mulch mow. Every county extension service has a brochure to try to educate people not to bag their grass clippings. Every time the grass is bagged, more nutrients are robbed from the soil. Every time the grass is bagged people are working harder to stuff grass in bags, trucks are spewing emissions as they make their way to the compost sites or dump sites, and if the grass goes into a landfill, there is that much less room for other trash before another hole must be dug. Totally insane.

Mulch mowing - returning the clippings to the lawn - can provide anywhere from 50% to 100% of the the nutrients the lawn needs.

Most people still don't care one bit about "the environment". Maybe when the coasts are underwater and 100 million people have to be relocated.

I think alot of people still think the lawn will look bad and be covered with clippings if the grass is not bagged. They are thinking of the days when you had rows of grass to rake up if you did not bag it. Some people think mulch mowing contributes to thatch buildup - which is not true. Most LCOs are just trying to do what the customers want. I always try to convince customers to let me mulch mow. I have been surprised that even the ones who are all for it have never heard of this. I have a few that insist on having it bagged. Someday I will not work for these people.

[Doc Pete]

Originally posted by rodfather
Baggin' Pete?...

...run doubles and/or cut twice and you will substantially eliminate the need/amount of bagging the clippings. Email me and I will tell how to get around most of this.

rod

Actually what I'm hearing is similar to what I'm doing. I double cut early on, with doubles, and just cut regular in the season.. BUT.......when is the grass gonna slow down and stop being wet, too :blob3: I guess this is my problem. I'm still cutting like it's the first of May. I feel bad for the customers, but it's their fault they're using "fertilizer companies".
Has anyone actually done some time studies and found if it's faster to double cut and blow, or slow down a bit and bag the lawn.
Pete

[Brickman]

Alot of people around WY want to bag. And power rake EVERY year, mow the grass way short, and water every day. All the things that are bad for the lawn they want to do. And 9/10s of them when you tell them will not listen to you. Or tell you that you are full of IT.
I have switched to all mulch as much as possible. I only have 3 lawns I am bagging this year. Granted it is extremely dry here and that makes a huge difference. If we had a wet spring I would have to bag untill the growth slowed down. A lot of my customers would not allow me to mulch if they knew that I was doing it. But I figure what they don't know doesn't hurt them at all.

[scagman]

Washington State

[David Haggerty]

I tried it back in the '70s when Chem Lawn came to town. They said we had to bag the grass back then. A little 1/8 acre urban lot would yield maybe 1,000 pounds of clippings! I quit the "bagging" business in a hurry.
Bluegrass grows wild here. It's the indigenous ground cover. We just have to keep up with the growth. Cut as often as every three days in the spring.
Mulching mowers get a lot of scorn here too. They just clog up and die. We need an unobstructed discharge chute.
Gator blades and double blades help a lot though. They chop the clippings fine enough they disappear.
I learned of both of them right here, so I really appreciate Lawnsite.

Dave

[Doc Pete]

Originally posted by David Haggerty
I tried it back in the '70s when Chem Lawn came to town. Gator blades and double blades help a lot though. They chop the clippings fine enough they disappear.
I learned of both of them right here, so I really appreciate Lawnsite.

Dave

More good info, thanks. Maybe you're the one help with this question. Have you tried comparing double gators to double highlifts?? I haven't yet. I'm wondering do the gators chop better, but don't throw as far??? Do they clump more or less than highlifts, too??
Thanks,
Pete