What Should You Do With Grass Clippings After Mowing Your Lawn? An Expert Weighs In

There’s nothing like the clean lines of freshly cut grass. But, what if we told you skipping your final step of bagging those grass clippings can actually help you grow lusher, thicker grass—and at no additional cost to you? Allowing your mower to leave behind grass clippings can have a variety of benefits for your lawn.

As your mower blades trim the grass, they produce clippings that can be immediately vacuumed up by your mower or left behind for pickup after the fact. Here, Jim Licklider, associate director of arboriculture and integrated pest management (IPM) at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Virginia, shares expert tips on how to reuse your clippings so they don’t just head to the waste pile but, instead find a second purpose adding nutrients and aiding in the overall health of your lawn.

Benefits Of Leaving Grass Clippings On The Lawn

Allowing your grass clippings to remain on your lawn has benefits that go far beyond time savings. The trimmings left behind can provide free nutrients and get your grass growing in the right direction—full and lush with blades for days. “Grass clippings are a great source of free fertilizer for your lawn,” says Licklider. “They break down very quickly in Southern climates and add nutrients and organic matter back to the soil.” This process can benefit overall turf health, reduce the need for chemical fertilizers, and aid in moisture retention.

How To Properly Leave Grass Clippings On The Lawn

Utilizing your grass clippings will require certain considerations like mow height and frequency that should be based on your grass type. Licklider says a general rule for mow height is to use a higher cut for cool-season grasses like fescue and opt for a shorter cut for warm-season grasses like Bermuda and zoysia.

“If you think you can’t leave [grass clippings on your lawn] because it leaves large clumps on the cut grass, then you aren’t mowing your lawn frequently enough,” he says. Licklider advises only trimming off the top 15% to 30% of the grass blades. This amount should be small enough to easily fall down to the soil. “If you’re seeing large hay clumps when you cut, you’re probably waiting too long between cuts and taking off closer to 50% or more of the plant,” he says. Licklider warns this can not only stress the grass, but the large clumps also have the potential to smother the grass below.

“The overall name of the game, regardless of grass type, is sharp mower blades,” he adds. “They will mulch the clipping better as you cut and create a cleaner cut of grass itself, which is better for the grass.”

Using Grass Clippings As Mulch

Grass clippings can be used as mulch, but they’ll require additional work. Unfortunately, the process isn’t as simple as spreading your fresh clippings over your garden beds, which can actually reduce water infiltration to your plants. To avoid this scenario, you’ll want to dry your clippings out before spreading. “Also make sure that if the turf was treated with broadleaf weed killer (to eliminate weeds such as dandelions or clover) you do not use clippings as mulch as the residual chemical could harm bedding plants,” Licklider warns. 

Composting Grass Clippings

The best thing to do with your grass clippings is to leave them on the lawn, where they belong, says Licklider. But there are times when you might need to opt for a different mode of disposal.

“If you do have to bag your clippings from time to time, I find the best move is to compost them,” says the gardening expert. “Adding clippings to compost is fantastic because of their high nitrogen content.” Grass clippings shouldn’t be the only thing you compost though. A good compost requires a variety of materials like plant pruning debris, soil (due to its biotic organisms), grass clippings, and food scraps.

Other Uses For Grass Clippings

While grass clippings can add valuable nutrients back into your lawn, they can be problematic when used elsewhere. “In general, you would want to avoid using home yard clippings for feed or bedding for livestock because of the risk of chemical exposure, as so many yards are treated at some point,” warns Licklider. “Furthermore, using them as mulch could actually risk spreading grass seed into undesirable areas.” The best course of action, he says, is to just leave your clippings where they lie—right on your lawn.

Proper Disposal Of Grass Clippings

Properly disposing of grass clippings can, of course, be as simple as setting your mower to the mulch setting and leaving your clippings on the lawn. If you find that you need to bag your clippings and can’t compost them (the second-best option), Licklider says any green waste disposal—as you would handle any other plant material—is perfectly fine.