All year round, people work hard to keep their yards looking immaculate and beautiful. One issue that every homeowner runs into at one time or another is weeds. While they are mowing their yard, many people wonder whether or not they should bag their grass clippings if they have weeds?
If your yard is heavily saturated with weeds, it is often recommended to bag your grass clippings and clean your mower blade after you mow. If you have a yard with a few weeds, you can combat them by pulling them up and continuing to mow your yard, as usual, even using the grass clippings as mulch.
This article will dive into the best practices to maintain your yard as well as when you should bag your grass clippings and when you can use them as mulch or compost.
What does it Mean to Bag my Grass Clippings
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You may have heard of the term bagging your grass clippings and begin to think to yourself, what in the world does that mean. Bagging your grass clippings means you are collecting or bagging grass clippings from your yard to use elsewhere.
Many homeowners use their grass clippings for several different reasons, including, but not limited to:
- Nourish their yard with Nitrogen
- Add to Compost
- Add to Garden
- Use as Mulch
There are a few ways that people bag their grass clippings. One is to rake them up and put them into a bag physically. Another is to buy a mower that has a bag attached, which makes bagging your grass clippings an absolute breeze.
A few reasons people bag their grass clippings is to have extra addendums for their garden, but more often than not, they like the look of their yard without the added clippings.
Having a healthy and beautiful lawn takes intentional practices to keep your yard looking full and stunning all year long. If your yard is free of weeds or disease, then it is often recommended to use your grass clippings as mulch. Adding grass clippings as mulch acts as lawn food and will help your yard continue to grow strong. The one exception to the rule is if your yard has any disease or is riddled with weeds.
Should I Bag my Grass Clippings if I Have Weeds
There are weeds of all shapes and sizes that tend to overtake the most unfortunate of spaces within your yard. The issue comes when you are not just dealing with one type of weed but instead have several types that you have to figure out to get rid of successfully.
Weeds such as dandelions disperse their seeds from the white puffs that flow from their seeds after blooming. When trying to get rid of dandelions or other flowering weeds, you can mow over them and most likely get rid of the flower spreading its seeds.
On the other hand, weeds such as clovers that creep and grow along the ground are a bit of a different beast to get rid of. When you simply mow over these weeds, it causes them to be broken up, but the problem arises that creeping weeds can often reproduce from cuttings. That means that if you think you are cutting down weeds with the mower, you are actually just dispersing the weeds to grow sporadically all over your yard.
One way to combat adding weeds to different parts of your yard is by adding a bag to your mower. When you add a bag to your mower, you will be collecting all of the weed pieces to disperse appropriately, combating the overgrowth of weeds in your yard.
Another way is to get ahead of the seeds dispersing and growing. That means if you see a few weeds beginning to grow, you can pull them up and combat the issue. One important thing to remember is that you often have to work to get the entire weed root to fully get rid of the weeds.
Does Bagging Reduce Weeds
Bagging weeds has the potential to reduce weeds if done correctly. If your yard is absolutely covered with weeds and you run your mower over them, always remember a few essential steps.
First is that if you add a bag to your mower and properly bag leaves, but then leave your weed-covered mower blades on your lawn mower, then you are causing more of an issue than what you started with. Remember to take off your mower blades and clean them well, or simply put them in a bag and get a new set so you do not accidentally spread weeds the next time you mow.
The same goes if you have a lawn service come to mow your lawn. If you are starting to see weeds begin to pop up all over the place, it may be time to check in with them and make sure they are not spreading weeds from one yard to another with their mower blades.
What Can I Do to Control Weeds in my Yard
There are a few steps that you can take to try and control the weeds in your yard or to keep them at bay.
Don’t Mow your Yard too Short
One strategic step to take is not to mow your grass too short. Cutting your grass too short will allow the perfect space and environment for small weeds to find sunlight and begin to start growing.
Keeping your yard dense and full will keep weeds from having what they need to grow effectively to combat this issue. Keep a dense yard by mowing weekly, and pay attention to any weed growth in your yard.
Use Grass Clippings as Mulch
You can also work to control weeds by mowing your weed-free yard and using all of the grass clippings as mulch. Doing so will add nitrogen to your lawn and help keep weeds at bay.
Pull Weeds Before they are a Nuisance
Don’t go around on your hands and knees, trying to find every single one of the weeds that already blanket your yard. What we mean by this, is to combat weeds before they take over your yard. Pulling up a few weeds as you see them will prevent them from going to seed.
Conclusion
The most crucial aspect of whether or not you should bag your grass clippings if you have weeds is the number of weeds and if they have gone to seed yet. Overall, if your yard is covered with weeds, it is recommended that you bag your grass clippings and get rid of them.
It is also suggested to clean your mower blades, so you don’t continue to disperse the seeds. If your yard is not covered in weeds, you can still bag your grass clippings, and either use them on your lawn, garden, or compost. To make bagging your grass clippings easier, you can invest in an attachment for your mower or a mower that already has a bag attached.
