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August 16, 2007

What about the grass clippings?

05_grass_seed_faqs If you mow regularly and don't have large piles of grass clippings, it is best to leave them on the lawn.  The clippings return nutrients and organic matter to the soil as they break down.  A big misconception about leaving the lawn clippings in the yard is that they attribute to thatch.  Thatch is a layer of decaying plant matter that accumulates at the surface of the soil, but grass clippings (if not left on the lawn in excess) break down quickly and are healthy for your lawn.

Large piles of grass clippings are not healthy because they can clump together and mat down the grass blocking sunlight which will cause yellow spots and increase the chance of disease.

Posted on August 16, 2007 in Mowing, Q&A | Permalink

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Comments

You're correct about clippings and thatch. The only real "thatch" I've ever seen was in St. Augustine growing in full sun and irrigated regularly. The thatch was about 4" thick and made regular mowing a real nightmare. The thatch was not from clippings, it was from several years of entangled runners building up.

Posted by: tom | May 1, 2008 2:37:37 AM

The photo used in this blog came from http://www.istockphoto.com. I hope this information will help you out!

Posted by: Kate | Apr 3, 2008 4:05:14 PM

Sorry: same question. Could you kindly help me with any information about the source of the photo? Thank you very much!

Posted by: Matthias | Apr 3, 2008 8:11:35 AM

I like the photo used here also! Is it copyrighted?

Posted by: brian | Apr 1, 2008 7:18:36 PM

Is this image copyrighted? If so, can you tell me where I can get it? Thanks!

Posted by: Marisa | Mar 23, 2008 1:16:26 AM

this photo used here is beautiful! is it copyrighted? and if so, would you be so kind as to share its origin? thank you.

Posted by: young chi | Feb 20, 2008 7:37:18 PM

Robotic Lawn Mowers are great for helping grass stay healthy. Because they cut your yard 3-4 times a week they only leave very small grass clippings and that is returned to the soil to help the grass grow even better. You can check out some reviews of robotic lawn mowers at http://www.bamabots.com

Posted by: Preston | Aug 17, 2007 9:10:01 AM

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