If you are new to the lawn business profession, you should determine whether to mulch or bag the freshly cut grass clippings before you begin mowing a customer’s lawn regularly.

What are the advantages of mulching rather than bagging, and why would you prefer one over the other? In truth, mulching has a lot of benefits for the health of your customer’s grass. Some clients, on the other hand, despise the sight of grass clippings strewn across their yard. So, in the end, whether you mulch or bag the grass clippings comes down to a variety of personal tastes and environmental benefits.

The Benefits of Mulching

Mulching grass clippings means leaving the freshly cut blades on the lawn to break down into the soil for a few days.

Mulching grass clippings also has more practical advantages for the health of your customer’s lawn. The reasons are that grass clippings are rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, vital ingredients in a bag of artificial fertilizers.

When you leave grass clippings on your client’s lawn, they function as a natural fertilizer, decomposing into the soil and releasing vital nutrients. Mulching your customer’s grass clippings may account for one-third of their annual fertilizer requirements for their lawn care program.

Grass clippings usually are mulched to provide an organic fertilizer with the same results as a store-bought product.

How to Mulch Grass

If your customer decides to mulch their grass cuttings, make sure you do it properly to get the most out of it.

Don’t Cut Too Much Off You should mow your client’s lawn frequently enough so each time you mow, you only cut a third of the grass blade length. Your customer’s yard may suffer if there is a decision of infrequent mowing, which stifles average grass growth. Even if the grass doesn’t appear to have grown much, mow it nonetheless to be safe and mulch it.

The grass cuttings will be excessively long and dense if it has been a while since your client’s yard has had regular mowing sessions. As you know, a mound of grass clippings that is excessively thick can smother the layer of grass underneath it, causing brown spots or perhaps killing the lawn.

Mow When the Grass is Dry You should not mow your client’s lawn when it is damp, as this will produce clumping of grass, which will smother and kill portions of his lawn. Late morning and late afternoon are the optimum times to mow.

Mulch With a Sharp Mower Blade. Make sure you’re mowing with a sharp mower blade as well. If your mower blade is dull, you are essentially ripping the grass rather than cutting it, and the tips of the grass blades will become brown. 

Cleanly trimmed grass with a sharp blade promotes growth and a healthy, green lawn.

Bagging Grass Clippings

Many of your customers may want to bag their grass clippings because they dislike the look of the loose blades strewn across their lawn, and they can be a tripping hazard for pedestrians. Plus, the edges of grass may stick to the bottoms of their shoes and follow them inside their home. However, there are some reasons other than unsightliness as to why it might be a good idea to bag the grass clippings.

When to Bag Grass Clippings 

In the following cases, bagging your client’s lawn clippings is preferable over mulching.

Lawn Infrequently Mowed If your customer’s yard hasn’t been on a regular mowing at least once a week, they could be better off bagging the grass cuttings. For example, long grass clippings produce thatch, a coating of dead grass covering the soil, and chokes out the lawn.

Lawn Has a Disease If you notice symptoms of lawn disease in your client’s yard or there are any other elements in the clippings that you don’t want to transmit to the rest of the lawn, you should always bag the grass clippings. A lawn disease stands out by random brown spots and grass dying in some areas. In this instance, don’t distribute it by mulching.

Mulching grass clippings give your client’s lawn a big nutritional boost while also saving money on other items like lawn fertilizer throughout the year. Mulching is also significantly better for the environment than dumping loose clippings in a landfill utilizing yard trash bins.

Consider your customers’ particular habits and preferences when deciding if curb appeal or the health advantages of mulch for their lawn are essential when determining whether to bag or mulch grass clippings.