Should You Bag or Mulch Grass Clippings?

After mowing, it seems instinctual to bag your grass clippings—but this isn’t always the best method. With an ideal lawn, you could skip bagging grass clippings and leave them atop the lawn as mulch instead.

There are both pros and cons to bagging grass clippings. Consider if your lawn has struggled with diseases or pests, the type of lawn mower you use, and if you have a need for garden mulch or instead make your own compost—these factors all affect whether you bag or skip bagging.

Learn about the pros and cons to help you decide whether or not you should bag grass clippings in your yard.

4 Pros of Bagging Your Grass Clippings

Grass clippings left on the lawn eventually decompose and supply your grass with nutrients, which can be beneficial. However, there are certain advantages to bagging clippings (or raking them up if your mower can’t take a bag attachment):

• Superior pest control: In sufficient quantity, grass clippings can harbor pests. If you know that your lawn is subject to pest problems, play it safe and bag the grass clippings.
• Superior disease control: The less your lawn breathes, the greater the chances it will suffer from fungal diseases. A moderate amount of grass clippings left on a healthy lawn should not invite fungal diseases, but too many grass clippings on a less healthy lawn could spell trouble.
• Bagged grass clippings are useful: By collecting the grass clippings (whether in a bag or through raking), you are gaining material useful in the landscape either as mulch or a component of a compost bin.
• Bagging may be necessary: An extenuating circumstance necessitating bagging is that you’ve let the grass grow too tall. Cutting down tall grass all at once may generate enough grass clippings to shade the grass or even smother it.

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3 Cons of Bagging Grass Clippings

But there are also drawbacks to bagging clippings:

• Extra work for you: Every time the bag fills up, you have to stop mowing, remove the bag, dump the contents, and replace the bag.
• Loss of nutrients: One of the major nutrients a lawn needs to thrive is nitrogen, and grass clippings are rich in nitrogen. Do you want to stay away from chemical lawn fertilizers and save money? Instead of buying chemical lawn fertilizers, provide your lawn with the nitrogen it needs by letting the grass clippings stay on your lawn.
• Grass clippings would improve soil structure: Grass clippings decompose quickly since they contain a lot of water. As they break down, they introduce valuable organic matter into the soil. Increased organic matter translates to improved soil structure, which helps your lawn retain moisture.

Should You Use Grass Clippings As Mulch?

Yes, a 1-to-2-inch layer of grass clippings can make a good mulch in vegetable gardens, shrub beds, and flower borders. Let them dry first if you are using them around a tender plant so they do not burn it.

For the purposes of generating mulch, it is best to cut the grass before it has produced seed, otherwise you may have unwanted grass plants sprouting up.

Grass clippings are also excellent for compost bins. Because they are mainly water and are high in nitrogen, they help heat up a compost pile. If the pile becomes hot enough, it may even kill any unwanted seed in it.

What Type of Mower Is Best for Mulching Grass Clippings Back Into the Lawn?

If you want to leave your grass clippings on the lawn, the best mower to use is a mulching mower. The blades of a mulching mower are designed to chop up grass blades multiple times, leaving behind a product that is finer and less likely to smother the grass. Even mulching mowers should not be operated when the grass is wet, though.