Get Rid of Grass Clippings: Cut Down on Weeds

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In our article about Landscaping Best Practices: Seven Steps to Happy Plants, the bonus step #8 was:

Don't throw the grass clippings into the garden!
Not only is it messy, but it introduces weed seeds into your garden, which can result in a lot of unwanted weed growth.

In this article we wanted to give some tips on how to do that.

#1. Plan your garden to make it easier to mow.
Sweeping curves are not only more attractive and feel more natural to walk along, but it is also easier to mow along the edge.

#2. Collect your clippings
Many riding mowers have bags to collect grass clippings. Throw your grass clipping into your compost along with your autumn leaves, sticks and other garden cuttings.

#3. If you can't (or don't want to) collect the clippings, mulch them.
Make three passes around the edge of your garden throwing the clippings AWAY from the garden. By making multiple pases, you mulch the clippings, which feeds the lawn and you keep the most of the weed seeds out of your garden.

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#4. Mulch the area around young trees
This was another tip from Landscaping Best Practices: Seven Steps to Happy Plants, but it's worth mentioning again. It will be less time consuming to mow if you don't have to try to get right up to the edge of a tree or follow up with a weedwacker (and again, the weedwacker is a tree-killer). Not only will an area of mulch around your tree prevent lawn mower and weedwacker damage, but mulch can also help with root compaction, preventing excess evaporation after watering, and ease of mowing.

  • We don’t mow lawns at Victoria Gardens, but we can help you design your garden beds into the most attractive, natural-feeling, labor-saving shapes.

We do weed!

  • The Victoria Gardens' landscaping crew are experienced and knowledgeable gardeners. Besides designing and installing new gardens, we also offer maintenance, spring cleanups, pruning, transplanting, weeding, and mulching.

Call to get an estimate: (845) 658-9007