Grasscycling - How to Maintain an Eco-Friendly Lawn

by Chris Molnar

Most people have heard of recycling, but fewer have heard of grasscycling. Grasscycling is simply a fancy term for leaving your grass clippings in place after you mow your lawn. Many people remove these grass clippings after mowing, either by raking or using a clipping bag on their mower, when leaving these clippings in place is very beneficial to their lawn.

In just one year, the average lawn can produce almost 300 pounds of grass clippings when mowed regularly. Many of these clippings find their way into landfills, removing a great source of fertilizer and contributing to more waste.

Grasscycling - Contributing to Your Lawn, and the Environment

Leaving grass clippings in place is a very effective way to fertilize your lawn with vital nutrients such as nitrogen. Some people spend hundreds of dollars over the course of a season to have their lawns fertilized, when they could accomplish nearly the same thing for free just by leaving the clippings in place!

Contrary to what most people think, grass clippings do not contribute to thatch buildup - as they are mainly water, they decompose very quickly, releasing their nutrients back into your lawn. When cut using a mulching mower, the clippings are cut more thoroughly, allowing them to decompose back into the soil more quickly and efficiently.

How to Grasscyle

To effectively return your lawn trimmings into your soil, it is best to use a lawn mulcher. You can certainly use any type of lawn mower, of course - a mulching mower will simply break your clipping down further. Whatever you use, make sure your blades are sharp, and get them resharpened every season. Grass that is cut with a dull blade will shred, inviting disease and pest insects.

When mowing, only cut 1/3 of the grass, and mow high. Leaving your grass higher not only strengths your overall lawn (by allowing each grass blade to retain more sugars), it also better shades the soil from water loss. Mowing high also allows your grass to concentrate on growing its root system rather than the blade if it is cut too low.

There is a time for bagging your clipping. The first time in spring, and the last time in fall is best. In the spring, you are cleaning up your lawn, and in the fall you don't want the clippings to remain only partially decomposed over winter. During these times, use your clippings as mulch or throw it in your compost bin to make new soil.

Leave your clippings on your lawn as part of an organic lawn care program. Along with grasscycling, layer an inch or two of compost onto your lawn every spring to revitalize the soil. Add corn glutten meal as a natural pre-emergent herbicide. Aereate every spring to allow oxygen into the soil. If you need to dethatch, do so with a bamboo rake in the spring. (I find bamboo the best - wire sprongs collect too much vegetation, and plastic isn't as strong.) Finally, water infrequently and deeply - you want to train your grass roots to grow deeper into the soil.

A Word on Thatch Build-Up

I say again, lawn clippings do not cause thatch. Thatch is actually dead grass and roots, and too much of a build-up will block water, oxygen and nutrients from reaching the soil. In a healthy organic lawn, thatch will not build up, because soil microbes in healthy, rich soil are constantly feeding on all this dead material, renewing the lawn with their presence. Lawns fed only on chemical fertilizers have low levels of microbes and worms in the soil.

Instead of relying on chemical weed and feed for your lawn, practice more sustainable fertilizer methods, such as leaving your clippings on your lawn, top-dressing with compost as your other fertilizer source, aerating to allow air into the soil, and infrequent and deep watering. There are so many ways that grasscycling helps the environment and saves you money by cutting out commercial fertilizer that it is a practice everyone should get into.

Chris Molnar is a homeowner with two yard-loving kids, and is the editor of Goorganicgardening.com, a website filled with tips and practices on soil management, composting, lawn care and garden design. Check out his garden guides here for more information on organic gardening.