Lawn maintenance is truly a difficult chore. However, there are steps you can take to keep your lawn healthy and lighten your workload. Throwing your clippings in the garbage can is not really the best use of this nutrient rich organic matter. The clippings you have left over from mowing can serve as a vital source of nutrients that is far less expensive than buying fertilizer. Plus, the organic matter can help to stimulate the soil if it’s deficient, too sandy, or too heavy.
If you mow regularly, you’ll already have this valuable stuff on hand, so let’s take a closer look at the best ways to use it.
Leaving Clippings in the Lawn
As we mentioned, leftover clippings can fuel your lawn’s continued growth. They provide vital nutrients like nitrogen and potassium. Plus, while nitrogen fertilizers boost the levels of those nutrients through their chemical makeup, this strategy is more natural and far less expensive.
What’s even better is that your mowing time will be cut tremendously. This is because you won’t have to worry about hauling yard waste bags, emptying your lawn mower grass catcher, and other strenuous chores. You’ll also potentially save space in your area’s landfills.
Give your hedges a helping hand
Those same clippings that boost nutrients in your soil can also serve as a defense mechanism against weeds. If you place your grass clippings around the roots of your bushes or hedges, you can block those pesky weeds from growing tall. Plus, it helps retain water to nurture your plants. A great way to collect your grass clippings is to use a tow-behind lawn sweeper, You can then take the clippings and deposit them by the desired plants.
Save your vegetables
Just as you can benefit your yard using lawn clippings, you can also boost growth in your garden. Using lawn clippings can act as a deterrence to pests like slugs or snails. If you add them in thin layers around your fruits or vegetables, you can keep them from eating at your plants, while avoiding the use of harsh chemical pesticides.
When to bag grass clippings?
Sometimes, these methods may not be helpful, and there are times you should, in fact, keep your clippings in yard waste bags. If you spot signs of disease in your lawn, you’ll want to keep those clippings isolated to avoid spreading disease. You can also bag your clippings for transport.
There are some circumstances when collecting your grass clippings is warranted. If you see signs of lawn disease, pick up the clippings to avoid spreading or exacerbating the problem. If they are healthy, grass clippings can also be collected for transport to use as mulch in other areas, or in a compost pile.
Conclusion
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that Americans’ yard waste accounts for an average 18 percent of the waste produced and sent to landfills, and that level spikes to 50 percent during peak growing seasons. If you know how best to utilize your lawn clippings, you can avoid adding to that waste level, no matter what country you live in. Plus, you can improve the health and look of your lawn in the process.
