WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR LAWN CLIPPINGS

Today's advice, contrary to 20 or 30 years ago, is to leave clippings on the lawn. The old belief that clippings contribute to thatch build-up is false. Thatch is a build-up of roots and stems, not grass blades. Use a mulching mower and leave clippings where they fall. It not only saves the labor of collecting and composting them, it also reduces the need for adding fertilizer to your lawn and helps to conserve soil moisture. There are exceptions, however, to this advice. If you have neglected your mowing or must mow in wet conditions, the long clippings are likely to form heavy soggy clumps that cover the grass. In such cases, the clippings should be removed so they do not smother the grass.

The idea of leaving clippings on the lawn is not new. In 1859 Henry Winthrop Sargent, a garden book writer and editor, wrote "except during may and June when the growth of grass is more rampant, and has to be gathered, we have removed our box for catching the grass as it falls from the rollers, and permit it to fly in a little shower all over the lawn as the cutting progresses. In this way, the lawn top-dresses itself, by returning all that it produces." Today's new mulching mowers, also called recycling mowers, make it even easier to leave clippings where they fall. The deck and blade designs enable these mowers to cut each blade several times, producing a finely chopped clipping