Mulching explained

The Magic of Mulching

For many years, people who use walk behind and ride-on mowers have known the benefits of using mulching mowers on their lawns.

What benefits does mulching offer?

Mulching mowers and ride-on mowers will not only save you time they will improve the quality of your lawn.

The mulching blade, unlike the grass collection blade, cuts and re-cuts the grass clipping in to tiny particles and drives them in to the turf, near the soil, out of sight. Once cut, these tiny slithers of grass will breakdown within hours depositing key elements back in to the lawn.

How does mulching work?

The mulching mower deck has no chute for the grass clippings to be exhausted from, hence the clippings are cut and re-cut.

Dedicated mulching mower decks are deeper allowing more room for the grass clippings to be circulated and cut smaller.

The grass clippings are thrown back towards the cutting edge of the blades again and again until so small they miss the blades and are driven down into the turf.
Mulching blade in operation

How will mulching benefit my lawn?

Grass blades are 70-80% water. What remains however, is a storehouse of elements that grass needs to thrive. Nitrogen is essential for a green productive lawn and is the main ingredient in lawn fertilisers.

A recent government waste project showed that a typical half-acre lawn can produce 4.5 tonnes of grass clippings each season. Those wasted clippings contain as much as 55 kilos of nitrogen. However if you had used a mulching mower, that is enough nitrogen to keep your lawn as healthy and good looking as using any commercial fertiliser. The other benefit is that the lawn gets a steady natural diet with each cut, rather than periodic high doses of chemical fertilisers.

Is nitrogen the only natural benefit to my lawn?

No. Grass clippings contain other important elements as well. Phosphorous and potassium are essential for plant growth too, and become available as the clippings decompose. In the test carried out it was shown that 17 kilos of phosphate and 51 kilos of potash were available from the clippings. Elements like iron, calcium, magnesium and others are present in smaller amounts, but all of them help your lawn to be healthier and more productive.

Do I have to cut more often with a mulch mower?

The answer to this question is no. Most lawns are cut too short. There seems to be a desire to imitate the closely manicured look of a golf course. Golf courses have thousands of pounds spent on drainage, hollow tine coring, spraying and top dressing. You will never reproduce a golf course appearance by shaving your lawn.

The grass blades manufacture food for the plant through the process of photosynthesis. The more leaf area, the more food your grass produces and stores for future use. It's these food reserves that help your lawn recover from stresses caused by heat, cold, insect damage and disease.

How do I get the best results when mulching?

Always remember that the mulching deck is a giant blender. If you were to put too much in, you will not get the best results and some uncut grass might be visible.

Always remember to use the "one third rule". Try to avoid removing more than one third of the grass blade length whenever you mow.

For example, let's say that you are maintaining your lawn at 2 inches - the "one third rule" says that you should mow before it reaches 3 inches. This does not mean you have to cut your lawn anymore than once every 7-10 days in season.

Frequently asked questions

I have been told that mulching causes thatch and moss, is this true ?

NO! Mulching does not cause thatch or moss!

1. Thatch is a result of a variety of factors including grass type, soil compaction, over watering, over fertilising with chemical feed or even aggressive mowing. As a result of this, a spongy layer of stems, roots, stolons, and partially decomposed organic matter accumulates on the top of the soil. In extreme cases, roots will begin to form in the thatch layer and the lawn will become totally dependent on artificial life support in order to survive. Tiny mulched grass clippings break down quickly and help support the bioactivity that keeps thatch from forming.

2. Moss is a spore. It will flourish in poor soil conditions. Examples of this include under trees and hedges where the soil nutrient is constantly in demand, very shady areas where sunlight is at a minimum, and thatched areas, for the reasons given above. Mulching will attack moss due to the nitrate and potash that the mulched clippings produce. Weather also has a great deal to answer for! If it has been a wet winter then spring moss can take hold in certain areas of the lawn. Moss spores can travel in the wind - even from the base of your hanging basket out onto your lawn!

Will I walk grass clippings into the house ?

You could pick up a very small amount of clippings on your shoes if you really made the effort to do so! This would only ever be on a wet lawn. In fact you would collect far more on your shoes if you were using a grass collecting mower. Even good collection mowers are only about 85% perfect on collection; the grass clippings have only been cut once, are therefore longer and are lying on the top of the lawn, rather than the root base, so would be more prone to being picked up on your shoes.

Can you cut grass in wet conditions ?

The answer is yes you can, but any form of mowing is better completed in dry conditions.

What if I go on holiday for two weeks and the grass has gone mad ?

Remember to apply the "one third rule" and if necessary cut it more than once to attain a perfect finish.

Will I need a collection system for leaf control ?

Modest amounts of leaves are a great source of organic matter and trace elements that can be effectively mulched where they have fallen. Dry leaves will be mulched along with grass clippings and forced deep into the turf. This rich compost will decompose readily, adding nutrients and organic matter to the soil.

If you have any further questions about mulching, please don't hesitate to contact us by email or phone.

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