Mulching with a Lawn Mower: Your Easy Guide

Curious about how to get more out of your lawn mower? Mulching could be the answer. Our guide will walk you through the process. Let’s unlock your mower’s full potential!

Mulching with a lawn mower, this is how you do it:

Mulching mowers chop clippings into mulch, adding nutrients. It preserves moisture and nourishes grass. Use a mulching mower. Cut dry grass every 7-10 days. Mulching provides an eco-friendly way to maintain a healthy lawn.

Maximize Your Lawn Care Routine: Looking for a way to enhance your lawn care routine? Consider mulching. It’s a simple process that involves using your lawn mower to chop clippings into mulch, add nutrients to your lawn, and preserve moisture.

What Is Mulching?

Mulching is a process by which organic materials are added to the surface of your yard or soil to protect it, retain moisture, and discourage the growth of weeds. Mulching mowers are used to achieve this; they help to maintain a healthy and green lawn by re-circulating.

Chopping the grass clippings under the mowing deck produces a fine mulch. Still, the fine mulch is returned to the lawn forcibly, decomposing and returning valuable nutrients into the soil. Mulching helps to provide an environmental benefit to your yard.

It also helps you save on chemical fertilizer costs. Due to this, you won’t have any clippings to dispose of, which also means that you won’t have to worry about making regular trips to the garbage dump or having piles of rotting grass in your garden.

Why Should You Mulch?

When you look at the numerous advantages of mulching to you or your lawn and the environment, you’ll realize it is well worth considering.

This process has many benefits, including providing precious nutrients for the turf, retaining moisture needed for your grass to grow, protecting the soil, and providing a healthier, greener, and perfect-looking lawn.

• Lawn Care: Reducing Cutting Time and Effort with Mulching

Mulching is also a great way of recycling environmental waste from mowing. In addition, it reduces the time and effort spent; you won’t have to move back and forth with your cuttings to dispose of them.

And it is also a great way of using natural resources to improve the general health of your lawn. Nowadays, more people are considering mulching as part of a biological approach to gardening and lawn care.

This process dramatically impacts the environment as you now have fewer road miles, less black bag usage, and less carbon released into the atmosphere from rotting vegetation.

When Should You Mulch?

Generally speaking, mulching is best done during the spring and summer. This is when the grass is fresher, greener, and adequate to provide more mulch.

After mowing your lawn and cutting the grass, leave the fine mulch on the lawn to decompose, sending good nutrients back into the soil. On that note, it is essential to know that thatch and mulch clippings on your lawn are different, and clippings do not cause thatch.

Do You Need Special Equipment For Mulching?

The simple answer to this is Yes. To achieve better results, you will need a mower specifically made for mulching or a mower that includes mulching as one of its features. Usually, the process uses a specially shaped blade and, in the case of a dedicated mulching mower.

A unique deck designed to keep the clippings moving around the blade. As a result, dedicated mulching decks are usually rounded and sealed, with enough space for the grass clippings to move around the blade.

The deck and blade of a dedicated mulching mower are specifically designed for this process, with the decks creating an excellent airflow and the perfectly shaped blade to chop the clippings and push them down to the soil rather than sending them out sideways.

How to Get the Best from Your Mulching Lawn Mower

● Remove the bagging attachment:

Remove the bagging attachment from the lawn mower while following the safety instructions recommended in your user manual before mowing.

● Check where the mulch will go:

Decide where you want the mulch to go by positioning your lawn mower on the grass that needs to be cut with the exit chute facing that area. Adjust the mower’s height to remove about one-third of the grass top. Do not remove too much grass in a single cut.

● Outer edge clippings should go to the center:

When you mow on the lawn’s outer edges, ensure the clippings are deposited toward the center.

● Cut the engine before fitting the mulch plug:

Always turn the engine off before fitting or removing the mulch plug. Never attempt to clear the clippings while the mower is running.

● The lawn should not be damp:

You must ensure your lawn is not overly damp for the best results. Wet grass is often sticky and can block up your cutting area; hence, mulching will not occur. Also, your under-chassis will be packed with grass sludge and require constant cleaning.

It is important to note that mulching can only be very successful in drier weather when cutting more parched grass. If you mulch damp grass, the whole process can get messy, especially if you try to remove too much grass in a single cut.

● The grass should not be too long:

Another essential tip is that grass must not be left too long between cuttings. For an average lawn under mulching cutting conditions, if the grass is cut to around 35mm after mowing, it should be re-cut when it grows again and reaches about 50mm.

Stadium-type grass should be cut-mulched between 40mm and re-cut around 60mm. Suppose your grass is left to grow longer than it should be, probably when you don’t have the time to get onto the lawn to cut it.

In that case, it is recommended that you use a mulching and catching lawn mower model (if you have one), using the catcher mode to remove the excess grass before switching back to the mulching mode to mulch the grass.

● Do not cut more than one-third of the grass height:

You mustn’t cut off more than one-third of the grass in a single mow or pass. If you took some time away and your grass has grown higher than the usual height, then you should reset the mowing height such that it does not cut more than one-third of the grass blade in a single mow.

After using this length to mow, you can return after a few days to re-cut your grass to get it to its average cutting height. If you cut any lower than one-third of the grass blade, it will reduce the mulching ability of your grass.

It may even leave some ugly lumps and a layer of ground-up grass all over the lawn. Not only does this look unappealing to the eyes, but it is also not good for your lawn.

● Cut every 7 to 10 days:

When using the mulching feature on your mower, cut your grass every 7 to 10 days rather than once a fortnight.

Frequently Asked Questions:

• What does a mulching plug do?

The mulching plug prevents clippings from being discharged out of the mower. It keeps them circulating under the deck until chopped finely.

• Can I mulch if my grass is damp?

It’s best to avoid mulching damp grass as it can get stuck and prevent proper mulching. Stick to mulching when the grass is dry.

• Do clippings cause thatch buildup?

No, grass clippings from mulching do not cause thatch. They decompose and provide nutrients to your lawn.

• Is a dedicated mulching mower better than a standard mower?

Yes, a dedicated mulching mower with specialized blades and a deck is ideal for mulching grass clippings efficiently.

• Do I need special equipment to mulch my lawn?

Yes, you’ll need either a dedicated mulching mower or a mower with a mulching feature. The blades and deck are designed to cut and re-cut clippings repeatedly.

Remarks

If you look closer at the numerous benefits of mulching mowers, sometimes called mulching matters, you’ll see they are worth considering. The difference in the weight and design of these mowers compared to other mowers is noticeable.

Lawnmowers with a mulching feature can do an excellent job of mowing; however, if mulching is your aim, you should consider a dedicated mulching mower as this is the ideal option. The sharp mower blades are essential for this process.

Sharpening your blades is essential because a dull knife can damage your lawn and lead to issues like fungus. The mower directs the grass clippings toward the underside of the deck multiple times before they are small enough to fall back onto the lawn.

• Role of the Mulching Plug in Lawn Mowing

This process creates a dense layer of grass clippings on the surface of your lush lawn. The mulching plug prevents the clippings from being discharged out of the mower and instead keeps them circulating under the underside of the deck until they are finely chopped.

This mulching method is beneficial as it returns nutrients to the soil, eliminating the need to bag and dispose of the grass clippings.

So, next time you’re considering a new lawn mower and wondering how it works, remember why mulching matters and consider a mulching mower for your discharge needs.