Garden guides often state that the lawn clippings must be raked off. Otherwise the lawn would not get enough air and moss would grow. That is only partly true. If you do it right, there are actually benefits to letting it go.

Conditions for leaving the lawn

  • Mow often or
  • Use mulching mower
  • Mow only in dry weather
  • Only leave short grass clippings
  • Cut with inflorescences better compost
  • Rake off grass that is too wet

Leave grass clippings - requirements

Lawn clippings are valuable biomass that you can put to good use in the garden. The cut blades of grass decompose and thereby release nutrients that benefit other plants - including the lawn itself. In summers with too little rain, they also provide protection against the soil drying out.

In order for the leaves to get onto the lawn, you must ensure that the stalks are not too long. Otherwise they take too long to rot. There is a risk that the grass clippings will clump together and rot, preventing air and sun from reaching the lawn.

The lawn must be mowed so often that the cut blades of grass are a maximum of two centimeters long. If you use a mulching mower, you don't have to cut the lawn as often. The mower chops the stalks into small pieces so that they can hardly be seen on the lawn.

Mow in dry weather

Only mow when the weather is as dry as possible so that the grass clippings are nice and dry. Forget the lawn mower's catcher bag so that the grass clippings are spread evenly over the lawn.

If the clippings are very damp or the lawn is generally too wet, it is better to catch the clippings in the basket or rake them off and dispose of them later. This also applies if the lawn is heavily interspersed with flowering weeds. It can be disposed of as mulch material under trees and shrubs, on the compost heap or in the organic waste bin of the municipal waste disposal service.

tips and tricks

The easiest way to mow the lawn so that the cut can remain is to purchase a lawn robot. Depending on the setting, the robot mows the green area so frequently that the cut stalks are only a few millimeters long.

Category:

Garden design