Environment Task Force Newsletter
Ohio State University Extension
Spring, 1998, v1 #4

Spring Lawn Care: Don't Bag It

Joe Heimlich, State Extension Environmental Specialist

Spring is the time for establishing your lawn. It's also the time for establishing your patterns of lawn care. To benefit your lawn and the environment, start your spring lawn care with the attitude, "don't bag it."

Clippings are nutritious!

Grass clippings contain valuable nutrients that can generate up to 25 percent of a lawn's total fertilizer needs. One hundred pounds of grass clippings can generate and return to the soil as much as 3 to 4 pounds of nitrogen, 1 pound of phosphorus and 2 to 3 pounds of potassium. These are the most important nutrients needed by lawns and commonly supplied in lawn fertilizers.

Some people worry that grass clippings contribute to thatch--an organic debris layer between the soil and live grass. Thatch can reduce water and fertilizer absorption into the soil and make a lawn easily damaged by drought and other stress conditions if it becomes thicker than a half an inch. But grass clippings do not increase the thatch layer--they are 75 percent to 80 percent water and decompose rapidly.

Mow high, mow often

The key to not bagging grass clippings is to set the mower high--appropriate to the type of grass--and to mow often. Higher mowing heights favor deeper and more plentiful roots. Frequent mowing should be done, so the grass to be cut is not more than one-third of the total leaf area. In the spring, time between cuttings may be every four days. Luckily, that usually decreases to as little as every two weeks by August.

Because mowing is determined by grass height, there is often a need for slightly more frequent mowings during growth seasons when using the "don't bag it" approach. But studies show the total amount of time spent mowing a lawn is reduced during the course of the year! Even though the homeowner spends less time mowing, the density and health of the grass is improved through this approach to lawn care.

For additional information, see Ohio State University Extension fact sheets CDFS 130, 131 and 132.