Green Action Centre asked: If I leave grass clippings on my lawn, will they lead to thatch build-up?
The results are in, and Green Action Centre members have a variety of ways of maintaining their lawns. Many of you said, yes, you leave your grass clippings on your lawn most or all of the time. Terry and Adam confirm they have not had any problems with thatch build-up.
By leaving your grass clippings on your lawn, you are returning much needed moisture and nutrients to the soil in your yard. And contrary to popular belief, grass clippings do not contribute to excess thatch build-up.
Thatch is a layer of dead plant matter on top of your soil. When the microorganisms in your soil cannot keep up with rapid root and grass growth, thatch build-up can occur. More than 1/2 inch of thatch can lead to problems.
If you are having a lot of thatch build-up, this may be caused by:
- Excess watering
- Too much fertilizer
So, try grasscycling – leaving your grass clippings on your lawn. This simple trick with save you time and energy previously spent bagging your grass. It will also keep up to 20% of your household’s waste out of the landfill if you are currently tossing your clippings. Grass clippings are free and grasscycling can eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers. For a healthy lawn, try these tips:
- Mow high. Adjust the mower height to leave your lawn 3-3½ inches long. Never cut off more than 1/3 of the grass height.
- Mulch It. Use a mulching mower to reduce the size of the clippings. They will break down and release nutrients to your lawn more readily.
- Keep it sharp and dry. A dull blade can damage grass. Sharpen mower blades annually and mow when the grass is dry.
- Alternate mowing direction. This keeps the grass from being pushed over in just one direction and being damaged by the sun.
Find out more on grasscycling from Green Action Centre’s composting program.
Read tips and information on caring for your lawn organically with the Manitoba Eco-Network’s Organic Lawn Care Project.
Leaving grass clippings on your lawn is a smart move. It helps the soil by providing moisture and nutrients, without causing thatch buildup, as many believe. This method saves time and energy, reduces waste, and eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers. To maintain a healthy lawn, follow these simple tips: mow high, mulch the clippings, keep the mower blade sharp, and vary your mowing direction. For more information, check out Green Action Centre’s composting program and the Manitoba Eco-Network’s Organic Lawn Care Project.
This informative post from Green Action Centre provides valuable insights into lawn maintenance and debunks common myths about grass clippings causing thatch build-up. By encouraging grasscycling and offering practical tips for maintaining a healthy lawn, they promote sustainable practices that benefit both the environment and homeowners. I appreciate the emphasis on mulching, proper mowing techniques, and reducing waste, making it easier for readers to adopt eco-friendly lawn care habits. Well done!
you amazed seriously.As long as the information about mowing is concern, that is very usefull.
Grass clippings are a great source of fertilizer. Thanks for sharing this! Many people don’t realize leaving lawn clippings is okay. However over watering can cause a lot of problems.
I have a “dirt/sandy” spot around 15’x15′ near my shed that looks like it never had lawn. My plan is to spread my grass clippings on it so it decomposes without rotting (max 2-3 inches) and then till the soil with it until next year to get a good base to seed new lawn at the end of the summer. Good plan ?
I have a large sloped lawn (maybe 350’x350’). The bottom half of the lawn grows fast and the upper half is nonexistent. The upper half does not get or retain much water and is a sandy consistency.
I’m thinking about bagging the lower portion and spreading the clippings on the upper half then mulching it. Next year after these clippings have had a chance to decompose, I was thinking of seeding.
Is any of this a good idea?
Thanks!
My husband wants to take the bag off of the lawn mower to leave the clippings on the lawn when he mows. I say no. Our lawn is a shady lawn and struggles to dry out, grow and get enough light. I say the clippings will do more damage than good. Cut it long and bag it. What’s our best option?
Wow I had no idea! This is great!
I think it depends on how tall you let your grass get between lawn mowings. If the grass is excessively tall and the clippings are past a certain threshold, it most certainly can damage the overall health of your lawn.
Regular lawn mowing, watering, and seasonal overseeding, fertilization, and aeration are the way to go for lawn health. Bagging shouldn’t be an issue if you’re mowing on a weekly basis
Definitely, Paul! You make a great point that one of the key pieces of grasscycling is making sure to never remove more than 1/3 the height of the grass at any given time. So, if your grass is overgrown, set the mower blades as high as possible, even if you want it shorter, and let the grass recover before cutting it again. Regular maintenance makes it much easier to grasscycle – and dramatically reduces the need for fertilizer too! It even reduces the need for watering, because you’re returning crucial organic matter to the soil, which can then hold more water. Applications of compost do awesome things for your lawn too, assisting with weed suppression (if the compost is clean of weed seeds), water retention, aeration/preventing compaction in the soil, and root growth.
We have had a problem in the Midwest lately with short-cut grass on edges of sidewalks/driveways/etc. causing significant weed growth. We have actually started leaving edges slightly higher because of the significance of the issue this year.
Thanks for sharing this great information! It’s great to see confirmation that cutting grass too short hurts the health of your lawn – and increases weeds. Sounds like a good way to cut back on pesticide use and save some effort in the process!
Thank you for sharing! Loved the guide 🙂
It has been an article that has been described in the best way I have ever read. Thank you admin
Your comment that mulching, which I’d will replace nutrients and prevent fertilizing doesn’t work for me. If energy is never lost, but transferred into a different energy, why when I mulch, do I still need to fertilize? Is energy lost through transpiration?
Perhaps the wording was a bit confusing! When you mow the lawn and remove part of the grass, you’ve got a “one-way” path for nutrients: out of the soil, into the grass, and then carted away with the grass clippings. When you grasscycle/mulch, you close the loop on nutrient loss. This should drastically reduce or eliminate the need for fertilizer compared to not grasscycling – though an individual may still find they wish to fertilize for other reasons! Hope that clears up the confusion.
Hi Carl,
I see I never replied to you!
So, there’s two things here. You’re discussing energy, which isn’t really the issue at hand. We’re looking at nutrients, especially nitrogen. That resides primarily in the blade of grass, and can be returned to the soil by grasscycling. Transpiration, by contrast, is the process of a plant sucking water from the ground and losing it through pores in the leaves (or blades of grass, in this case). Transpiration is primarily about water, not about energy or nutrients; grasscycling returns both energy and nutrients to the soil. Grasscycling can greatly reduce the amount of fertilization needed – fertilizer provides key nutrients for grass into depleted soil. But grasscycling reduces the rate at which the soil becomes depleted. Hope that helps!
If I catch fresh green grass clippings in my mower’s bag, can I spread this over the brown areas. I have laid out turf builder in those areas after raking away the previous residue grass clippings.
I was curious if I do this lightly, that it’ll help those areas come in better.
I live in South Carolina with a backyard that could be considered a beach in spots. I have what I would consider a fairly large yard and my question is this. If I were to bag my clippings and dig them or rake them in to my “beach” spots on my lawn would it remotely change the soil composition enough to try and seed it this fall? Or am I sweating for no reason. I’m thinking adding a 10 yard soil amendment might be out of the time budget for me as I don’t spend a lot of time here at home.
Hi Christopher,
Here in Manitoba we mainly have experience with clay-heavy soils rather than sand-heavy soils. However, we do know that finished compost applied to soil (as mulch or, ideally, worked in) can improve the soil texture significantly especially over time! Adding grass clippings exclusively may help the sandy areas, but my guess would be that it will take more than one season to produce enough organic matter to shift the content of the soil there. I would suggest trying instead to compost the grass clippings in a pile, then adding the finished product to the sandy areas as top-dressing, and planting in that to see if it helps. Let us know what works in the end!
On average how fast does a lawn grow ? Also , should I have my soil tested for the right combination of nutrients ?
I’m afraid those questions are beyond our expertise! We tend to be pretty low-key about lawn maintenance around here. Lawns grow at different speeds depending on heat, water, and time of year. Soil testing would be up to your own discretion, but we can say that grasscycling will help to slow the loss of key nutrients!
I have just a little bit of yard, not worth buying a lawn mower. So my dad or brother come over every couple of weeks to weed eat it. I’m trying really hard to fill the little bit of yard that I do have in. Are there any tips you could give me for weed eating clippings that would be different than a mower?
Weed-eaten grass clippings should generally be nice and fine, making them dissolve quite quickly into the lawn. I wouldn’t expect that, unless they’re heavily clumped, you’d need to do anything differently from mowing. Just make sure you’re not typically taking off more than about 1/3 of the grass blade (harder to do consistently with a weed-eater than a lawnmower). Two options for replacing your grass would be a clover lawn, or potentially a thyme lawn (if it doesn’t see much traffic). Let us know how it goes!