Want to save money on fertilizer? Why not take advantage of the free fertilizer available from your own lawn?

That’s right, lawns produce fertilizer. The fertilizer they produce comes from the grass clippings. It is possible to recycle as much as 60 percent of the nitrogen from the clippings by doing nothing more than leaving the clippings on the ground! Of course, if you are going to get the maximum effect, you will need to mow often, leaving short clippings that are easy for soil microbes to digest.

There are other reasons to mow often and leave your clippings on the ground instead of bagging them and sending them to a landfill. Speaking of landfill, that is a good place to start.

Lawn clippings and the environment

Leaving your lawn clippings on the lawn keeps them out of the landfill, which is good for the environment. Most cities, and many states have laws prohibiting the bagging of lawn clippings because of over stuffed landfills.  By leaving the clippings, you are avoiding this problem altogether.

Lawn clippings and organic matter

Organic matter is essential to healthy lawn growth. Lawn clippings are a great, and free source of organic matter.  Clippings add organic matter to the lawn when they are left in place and allowed to degrade naturally.

Lawn clippings and thatch

Mowing often, and leaving short clippings will also prevent the accumulation of thatch. That is the layer of dead grass at the base of the plant. Short lawn clippings will degrade more quickly, and even help to break down the thatch built up from leaving long grass clippings.

Reasons why people bag

Thatch problems.

Thatch problems are caused by leaving lawn clippings that are too massive to break down through microbial activity. If this is the case, the lawn should be mowed more often, or fertilization, and irrigation should be lowered. If the lawn is growing so rapidly that it can’t be mowed often enough, there is usually a problem with excessive fertility, and, or, too much water. In such cases, the answer is not to bag the clippings. The answer is to moderate the activity that is causing the problem.

It is habit.

It is habit learned from someone in the past, who needed to bag, or thought they needed to bag. The world is full of stories about people who continue to do things when the need is long past, or a better solution is available.

See also: Grass Clippings UC Davis

Weeds, brush, and debris feed and hide insects and rodents. These insects and rodents are continually probing for better circumstances, and human housing looks like ideal lodging to them.

Brush, weeds, and debris serve as hiding spots or cover for insects and rodents. Getting rid of brush, debris and weeds around your property will lower the insect and rodent population, which will lower the numbers of creatures trying to get inside.

Lawns and insect cover

Lawns can also provide cover, especially when they are not frequently mowed. Insects and rodents use the grass cover to edge closer to your home. Infrequent mowing allows the buildup of a layer of thatch. Thatch buildup develops it’s own environment, complete with it’s own set of pests, fungi, and problems. Grass mowed at irregular intervals, or with long periods of time between, provides cover for insects, and rodents, and produces it’s own crop. To avoid this problem, regular mowing is essential. Excess fertility adds to the problem, as does over irrigation. Proper lawn care is critical to preventing insects and rodents.

Insect and rodent cover in the landscape

The broad landscape of a property, including trees, outbuildings, landscape beds, and other components also play an important part in preventing pests. Landscape beds in particular can be a problem. The products commonly known as mulch, which are used for preserving moisture, preventing weeds, and insulating the roots of landscape plants, can also provide cover for pests. Mulch may be a necessary part of a home landscape bed, but it does not need to touch the home. If it can be kept 1 to 3 feet away from the home, insects will not use it as a bridge into the home.

Removing cover from your property will lower the insect and rodent population, and provide a solid foundation for other pest prevention and pest control efforts.

Mowing can be a chore, 10 acres of mowing can take a lot of your valuable time, or a lot of money to hire someone to do it for you.

There are alternatives to mowing, even options that might make you a little extra spending cash. This option will cost money, but it will cost a lot less than the mowing option, and leave wildlife in place, while giving your watch and your wallet a little relief. That option is chemical mowing, and before you decide to reject it outright because of environmental concerns, you should read the rest of this page.

What is chemical mowing and trimming?

Chemical mowing and trimming are the terms used to describe the process of treating weeds and weedy grasses with a chemical to inhibit growth. Mowing chemically retards the growth of the plant, while still allowing it to provide erosion protection.

Many fence rows are adjacent to highway right of ways, and killing the grasses present may not be a good option, but suppressing the growth will save hours of backbreaking labor.

A proper treatment, with proper chemicals at the proper time, can virtually eliminate mowing and trimming for an entire growing season with as few as two treatments per year. Comparing this to the cost of mowing and trimming such areas, it is a real bargain.

Chemical mowing and the environment

A very good argument can also be made, that chemical mowing of pasture type areas has environmental advantages over mechanical mowing. There is less debris in the runoff to clog drainage, and less harm to wildlife living in such areas. Chemical mowing does not destroy the cover used by wildlife, it merely slows it down, ground nesting birds, and small mammals and reptiles living in the area can carry on as though nothing had happened, instead of being chopped to bits by a mower.

Chemical mowing products

Preventive growth regulators

The first class of chemicals is “pgr’s” these are preventive growth regulators. Most of these work by miniaturizing the plant, and can produce some amazing results both in growth rate, and lawn quality. What is the downside? These chemicals normally reduce wear tolerance, and are pretty expensive.

Systemic herbicides

The second class is systemic herbicide, used in lighter than normal dosages. salts of glyphosate are a good example. Most 41% glyphosate products are labeled for this use, and instructions on the proper methods and mixtures are included.

Chemical mowing and yellowing

One thing that you should be prepared for if you choose to use chemical mowing, is the fact that there will be some yellowing of the treated grasses. Usually the amount of yellowing that you are prepared to put up with will help you to determine the amount of time that the treatment will be of benefit. The yellowing can be overcome by fertilization.

Chemical mowing: Other uses:

If you are not comfortable with treating an entire lawn, or pasture, you can still use this process to chemically trim around walks, the edges of buildings and around such items as posts, fences, and trees. A light dose of a growth regulator around the base of a tree can help avoid such things as “Mower or trimmer blight” caused by the destructive forces of trimmer string or mower decks contacting the tree and taking off bark.

Chemical vegetation control in highway right of ways, should only be practiced by properly licensed individuals or companies.

See also: Land Management Mowing Alternatives For Large Acreage