Why should I or shouldn't I pick up my grass clippings?
Question:When I use my tractor to mow, should I pick up the gras cuttings or let it sit on the grass and decompose? Why? I have a freind who insisits that I let it sit on the grass. BTW I cut my grass every week.
Answers:
For the spring and early you should pick up your clippings. That way your grass has a chance to become hardier and be able to stand up to the heat and the sun. In later summer they say you should leave the clippings on the yard because there is a lack water in most cases and with the clippings there that provides the rest of the grass with water.
I was always taught that you pick up the grass cuttings because if you don't the grass will grow thicker. I really don't know if that's true or not. However, it looks so much nicer when you pick them up.
you should because if you don't it will kill your grass, but if you don't want your grass then leave it there. maybe you should buy a bag for your lawnmower.
If disposal of the grass clippings is not an issue, your answer is 'personal preference'. I pick up my grass and bag it when the grass is long. As the summer continues, I simply mulch the grass as I am cutting it. Sooner or later, bagging the grass gets to be a pain in the back, and it tends to be less of an issue. Do not cut your grass less than a middle setting until late fall, then cut it short. A longer grass will retain more moisture in the dirt by filtering the sunlight on the dirt. It will also squelch weeds.
let it stay on the grass, its a great fertilizer.
Regardless of how often you mow, the clippings that you leave on your lawn/farm are great for the soil, unless the clippings are so heavy that they bog the new grass down. If you have a mulching mower on your tractor, it chops the clippings into little pieces that can fall between the blades of new grass to nourish it. That's good.
If not, my guess is that the clippings form a row, which goes from green to yellow color during the week, meaning that they sit ON the grass, depleting it of light. That's not good.
If you know your area is drought prone it is better to leave the clippings on the ground. It helps to retain moisture. Otherwise, if the grass is too long when you cut it the cut grass will tend to kill your living grass and leave rows of brown spots in your yard.
In the spring pick grass up and winter leave them
If they are not large clumps it will not hurt the grass.
You pick it up so your yard doesn't have hay trails.
Either way will work.
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