Novice question about grass clippings

[Prithviraj Dasgupta]

Hello,

I moved into a new home in Omaha, NE last month. The home came with a fair-sized lawn, approx 10,000 sq ft. The grass (Kentucky blue) was not mowed for about 10 days when we moved in. One of my neighbors advised me to mulch the grass while I was mowing the first few times. I did that twice over the last two weeks. But since then patches of mulched grass are scattered all over the lawn, making it look quite unattractive. It has been raining regularly over the last few weeks and the grass is quite green otherwise. How do I remove those grass clippings? Is hand picking an option or should I use the blower/vac? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

-Raj Dasgupta

[Blues Ma]

Mulch mowing should not leave piles of grass. Are you sure your mower has a mulching blade and the chute blocker is in place correctly ? If it is a mulcher, going over the piles a second time should make the blade remnants fine enough to sink out of sight.

Ma    

[Vox Humana]

The most common way to remove grass clipping from a lawn is with a rake. If that is too much work, then I would do what the other poster recommended and mow over them several times until they dissipate. Even a mulching mower will leave clumps if the grass is too high or it is wet when you mow.

[Travis]

When it stops raining mow again but put the bag on the mower. You should cut no more than 1/3 of the length of the grass blades continue this over a couple of weeks until the grass is at the desired height whick should be 2 to 3 inches.

[GrampysGurl]

I would mow the lawn twice when it gets that long, once north to south and then east to west or south to north west to east your choice but I would go both ways..... This way cutting up all those clumps adding organic material to the ground. I always mulch my clippings, I've never bagged them. Colleen Zone 5 CT

[GrampysGurl]

or 3-4 inches for water conservation and to encourage birdlife to come in and help with grub/insect control :o) Colleen Zone 5 CT

[Karen]

Rake. But how do you get rid of the grass clippings? Apperently you don't have a compost.

I'd suggest mowe it more often, like three times in two weeks if you don't like the patched look.

[Stephen M. Henning]

The clippings will eventually work their way down and compost naturally adding rich humus to your soil. To prevent them from causing dead areas in the grass, mow often so the clippings get moved around. A good mower will spread the clippings uniformly so they don't cause an unsightly problem. I just mowed areas of my lawn that had not been mowed for 7 weeks (we were on vacation). These areas look unsightly now but will look OK in a couple weeks. The clippings work their way down.

Penn State has good advice for lawn care at:

is what they say: "Unless grass clippings are excessive, they do not have to be routinely removed from most lawns. Allowing them to decompose recycles plant nutrients and reduces the solid waste disposal problem and the time and effort required for mowing."