A healthy lawn and grass cycling go hand in hand! Do your back and your lawn a favor and kick the bagging habit! (Some people may refer to it as “grass recycling”, but the proper term is “grass cycling”.)

Grass clippings are a valuable source of nitrogen-rich organic matter. When mowing, remove no more than one-third of the total plant height so that the clippings are small enough to sift back down into the turf and break down quickly, thus returning valuable nutrients back to the soil. Using a mulching lawn mower or simply converting your existing mower with a mulching attachment is an easy way to practice grass cycling.

Mulching your grass clippings does not cause thatch! Thatch is a layer of living and dead organic matter that occurs between the green matter and the soil surface. It is actually the tough fibrous part of the grass stem (which takes much longer to decompose) that contributes to thatch buildup. However, clippings are very high in water content and break down rapidly when returned to the lawn after mowing (assuming the lawn is mowed regularly and that no more than one-third of the leaf blade is being removed during mowing).