“Mulching grass clippings provides more nutrients for your soil. As they break down, the clippings will release nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. These are essential nutrients that your lawn needs to stay healthy. To avoid a thick “thatch” of grass clippings on the lawn, be sure you have a reasonable grass-mowing height. Don’t wait too long before mowing a lawn; mow frequently and consistently so clippings do not turn into thatch.”
nn111304
Ya, if it had a lot of weeds I would say bag the first couple time, but this looks clean so I would mulch
CardiologistHuman471
You should ALWAYS bag your first 3 to 4 cuts of newly planted sod and seed. If you mulch, you’re more likely to spread weed seeds across your lawn.
Wait until your lawn is mature and you’re able to use some weed killer before mulching.
JustMy2woCents
For first mow, and really the first few, it’s best to use a human powered reel mower. There’s no suction pulling roots out. They are cheap and worth it.
I use a fiskars for a month or so on newly planted areas. Now if i could only find a way to push the mower without walking on the new grass…..
NoCoFoCo31
I live in CO too. I regret mulching every time. Idk if it’s just my mower, but the clipping live in my yard forever and never seem to fully break down.
akuma0
I’d bag the first batch, trying to mow at a very high setting, which hopefully also would not take much off.
Then mulch twice a week to work down to your summer height. That may not be much lower depending on your mower – 3-3.5″ for bluegrass during Colorado summers is a typical target
Once there, it should be hot enough that things slow down and mulching once a week is plenty.
Watering may be a bit tricky, since you probably have clay soils which will take time for roots to grow deep. You want to work toward infrequent, deep waterings but you’ll need to keep an eye on it to make sure areas aren’t getting dark or brown from dehydration.
Zoomtracer_glory
Let it dry first before you mow.
T6TexanAce
Bag. It’ll look crisp.
ily300099
What kind of grass is this?
ryguy2018
Bag
NovasHOVA
Leaving clippings on the ground technically feeds organic matter for the soil, but the actual level of nutrients is so low it’s not going to be missed, especially if you are feeding it with other supplements like fertilizer and humic
TakingTheEast
Bag
paklyfe
I bag mine because my children and dogs play in my grass then come inside so I would rather not have them tracking in clippings
The_Real_Flatmeat
Bag it
BeezyBates
High and bag. It’ll grab the seeds not in roots. Then lower and mulch.
TitusvilleAstronaut
I’m just happy that you have a beautiful lawn. Pretty. Bag it up and keep some for the win.
FeelinDead
I would just mulch but I’m also lazy, so…
Ehtism
Bag it; the clippings will be quite long and could cause issues. When you mow weekly or when the clippings will be quite short, you can mulch. It’s just a volume thing. It’s clearly locked in and healthy so the nutrients argument while valid isn’t really necessary at this point.
fuller4740
Bag, unless you want to spend a ton of time and energy dethatching like I did today.
boatsandhohos
A lot of things come first
Fun-Confidence-2891
Now high and mulch
Link9454
I only mulch if I plan on over seeding or something similar or if the soil keeps drying out too fast in the height of the summer. Also live in Colorado btw.
dan991
Bag first mow, then mulch afterward assuming you are consistently mowing at least once per week
Amazing-Squash
Always bag the edges.
VOB13
In CO too, near Denver, who did the sod work? Looking at someone to possibly do some going into the fall.
EvolutionInProgress
Yeah don’t mulch the first one. Bag it. Then mulch it weekly and always cut high if mulching, not too long of a break from last cut.
I mulched after a month of growth and am regretting. Having to manually dethatch everything with a rake.
26 Comments
“Mulching grass clippings provides more nutrients for your soil. As they break down, the clippings will release nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. These are essential nutrients that your lawn needs to stay healthy. To avoid a thick “thatch” of grass clippings on the lawn, be sure you have a reasonable grass-mowing height. Don’t wait too long before mowing a lawn; mow frequently and consistently so clippings do not turn into thatch.”
Ya, if it had a lot of weeds I would say bag the first couple time, but this looks clean so I would mulch
You should ALWAYS bag your first 3 to 4 cuts of newly planted sod and seed. If you mulch, you’re more likely to spread weed seeds across your lawn.
Wait until your lawn is mature and you’re able to use some weed killer before mulching.
For first mow, and really the first few, it’s best to use a human powered reel mower. There’s no suction pulling roots out. They are cheap and worth it.
I use a fiskars for a month or so on newly planted areas. Now if i could only find a way to push the mower without walking on the new grass…..
I live in CO too. I regret mulching every time. Idk if it’s just my mower, but the clipping live in my yard forever and never seem to fully break down.
I’d bag the first batch, trying to mow at a very high setting, which hopefully also would not take much off.
Then mulch twice a week to work down to your summer height. That may not be much lower depending on your mower – 3-3.5″ for bluegrass during Colorado summers is a typical target
Once there, it should be hot enough that things slow down and mulching once a week is plenty.
Watering may be a bit tricky, since you probably have clay soils which will take time for roots to grow deep. You want to work toward infrequent, deep waterings but you’ll need to keep an eye on it to make sure areas aren’t getting dark or brown from dehydration.
Let it dry first before you mow.
Bag. It’ll look crisp.
What kind of grass is this?
Bag
Leaving clippings on the ground technically feeds organic matter for the soil, but the actual level of nutrients is so low it’s not going to be missed, especially if you are feeding it with other supplements like fertilizer and humic
Bag
I bag mine because my children and dogs play in my grass then come inside so I would rather not have them tracking in clippings
Bag it
High and bag. It’ll grab the seeds not in roots. Then lower and mulch.
I’m just happy that you have a beautiful lawn. Pretty. Bag it up and keep some for the win.
I would just mulch but I’m also lazy, so…
Bag it; the clippings will be quite long and could cause issues. When you mow weekly or when the clippings will be quite short, you can mulch. It’s just a volume thing. It’s clearly locked in and healthy so the nutrients argument while valid isn’t really necessary at this point.
Bag, unless you want to spend a ton of time and energy dethatching like I did today.
A lot of things come first
Now high and mulch
I only mulch if I plan on over seeding or something similar or if the soil keeps drying out too fast in the height of the summer. Also live in Colorado btw.
Bag first mow, then mulch afterward assuming you are consistently mowing at least once per week
Always bag the edges.
In CO too, near Denver, who did the sod work? Looking at someone to possibly do some going into the fall.
Yeah don’t mulch the first one. Bag it. Then mulch it weekly and always cut high if mulching, not too long of a break from last cut.
I mulched after a month of growth and am regretting. Having to manually dethatch everything with a rake.