To bag, or not to bag lawn clippings

After many years, and much debate on this subject, and in spite of the overwhelming evidence for not doing it, some people still insist on gathering the cuttings from their lawns and depositing them in a landfill. Below you will find some very practical reasons to avoid this practice.

Environment

Unless you compost your lawn clippings after you gather them, they probably end up taking up space in a landfill. Granted, they will decompose, after the plastic bag they are in decomposes, but that may take many years, and the whole process also produces some pretty nasty results.

Allowing your lawn clippings to decompose naturally in the lawn is a much better choice for the environment, and for you. There are some estimates based on solid scientific data that when lawn clippings are collected, about 60 percent of the nitrogen that you originally used to fertilize your lawn is taken away. This requires more fertilization at a high cost to the environment and to you. That leads us to the second reason for leaving your clippings.

Your money

If you bag clippings, total up your fertilizer cost for a year, and subtract 60 percent of that cost. That is how much money you could be saving if you leave the clippings on the lawn to decompose. This will also add nitrogen , as well as organic matter back into the soil. That leads us to the third reason for leaving your lawn clippings.

Lawn fertility

Lawn clippings are a natural source of nitrogen, and nitrogen is what it takes to grow lawns. We have already alluded to the fact that up to 60 percent of nitrogen is robbed from the soil when cuttings are removed, and that translates into higher costs for you and your lawn.

Lawn soil quality

Lawn clippings are a natural source of organic matter, and organic matter will improve soil quality. Removing them robs the soil of these elements. If you leave your lawn clippings on the lawn, you gain not only fertilization, but also soil quality. Along with better soil quality comes better lawn quality. Removing clippings robs the microbes in the soil of the fuel that they need to perform other micro functions in the lawns natural growth process like the breaking down of soil nutrients for plant availability.

Arguments in favor of bagging lawn clippings

Ha ha, gottcha! There are not any valid arguments for bagging. Some people say that lawn clippings can create thatch, and that is true, but only if you wait too long to cut your grass. If that is the problem, use the money saved on fertilizer to mow more often, which in itself, will produce higher lawn quality, and you won’t have the additional work of bagging and disposing of your clippings.

Summary

Leaving your lawn cuttings to decompose naturally on your lawn will improve soil quality, help the environment, add fertility and organic matter, and reduce your costs and labor. Those are some great reasons for letting them stay where they fall. There are other good reasons to use this practice, if you can think of some let us know in the comment section of this page. If you disagree, tell us about that as well. We are happy to post comments with opposing views.