New petrol mower - mulching or collecting

[garycat]

Im thinking of buying a new mower - one of the cheaper petrol ones at about £200 - £250. Do I need a grass collecting one ot a mulching one? Do you collect at some times of the year and mulch at others?

[mrsxllifts]

Personally, I would always go for a collecting one otherwise you could be looking at problems in the future with moss and other grass-lurgy things!

You can always compost and/or mulch your clippings yourself if you have the desire.

[FlossyThePig]

If there is one in your budget I would get one that gives you the option to do either. Using the mulching option certainly cuts down the time and can be great for a quick trim. A big factor really is how big your lawn is and how many times will you have to empty the grass box for a full cut.

[ShadownINja]

Is it really a problem to not collect? Or is it mulch ado about nothing? Sorry.

Edited by ShadownINja on Wednesday 26th May 19:22

[Flintstone]

I see what you did there SN. Tres droll.

If you're anything like me go for a collector or, as suggested, the option for both. I never cut the stuff on a regular basis and today moved the trampoline to mow grass about a foot long. That'd never mulch properly.

[M-J-B]

Mulch.

Not sure if the results are any different with a sit-on rather than a smaller mower, but seems to do the job for me.

[NDA]

Collecting!

I have about 2 acres of lawn, so that generates a lot of clippings and, you'd think, I'd go for a mulcher. But mulchers can't collect leaves (very handy in the autumn), mulchers don't work well with wet or damp grass and also you can't cut long grass effectively. Friends with (expensive) mulchers do talk of them getting blocked regularly. As long as you have a hidden area for clippings....


Edit: re-reading your post (d'oh), this is not a ride on you're after, in which case mulching might be a hassle free alternative.

Edited by NDA on Thursday 27th May 09:20

[drgav2005]

Collector.

We had a new lawn laid on our garden and I used a mulching mower on it regularly. Applied lawn feed in spring and summer and lawn weed, feed and moss killer in the Autumn. The lawn was regularly watered (we live in Scotland ) but started to die off. Turns out all the clippings were just smothering the new growth and not 'mulching' back into the soil as they were supposed to. Chatted with the landscape gardeners who laid the turf and they told me to change mower to restore the lawn.

Changed to a collecting mower with a scarifying attachment - normally would take 2 bin bags of clippings for a cut - I removed 12 (!!!) bin bags of dead thatch from the grass. Lawn is much healthier now that the collecting mower is always used.

The mulching mower is great for a quick cut, but for long term healthy grass I'd recommend a collecting mower.

[Silver993tt]

drgav2005 said:

Collector.

We had a new lawn laid on our garden and I used a mulching mower on it regularly. Applied lawn feed in spring and summer and lawn weed, feed and moss killer in the Autumn. The lawn was regularly watered (we live in Scotland ) but started to die off. Turns out all the clippings were just smothering the new growth and not 'mulching' back into the soil as they were supposed to. Chatted with the landscape gardeners who laid the turf and they told me to change mower to restore the lawn.

Changed to a collecting mower with a scarifying attachment - normally would take 2 bin bags of clippings for a cut - I removed 12 (!!!) bin bags of dead thatch from the grass. Lawn is much healthier now that the collecting mower is always used.

The mulching mower is great for a quick cut, but for long term healthy grass I'd recommend a collecting mower.

Kind of related question but I have a large plot where I need to cut the grass twice a year (it's not in the UK). I really don't want the grass growing at all really, so if I don't collect the grass cuttings, will this slow down the growth rate of any grass/weeds?

[drgav2005]

Silver993TT

(Awesome car if it is the same as your signature by the way )

Not sure if it would entirely slow its growth - the stuff still grows, but looks bloody awful when it manages to get through the dead thatch below! I've got a spare mulching mower sitting in the garage if you wanted to try

[Silver993tt]

drgav2005 said:

Silver993TT

(Awesome car if it is the same as your signature by the way )

Not sure if it would entirely slow its growth - the stuff still grows, but looks bloody awful when it manages to get through the dead thatch below! I've got a spare mulching mower sitting in the garage if you wanted to try

Thanks but the plot is about 1000 miles away from London :-) I would like to cutthe grass as little as possible, oonly once a year. Currently needs 2 cuts a year to keep in check. It's just under a hectare.

oh, yes the car is a 993 turbo :-)

[drgav2005]

Silver993tt said:

drgav2005 said:

Silver993TT

(Awesome car if it is the same as your signature by the way )

Not sure if it would entirely slow its growth - the stuff still grows, but looks bloody awful when it manages to get through the dead thatch below! I've got a spare mulching mower sitting in the garage if you wanted to try

Thanks but the plot is about 1000 miles away from London :-) I would like to cutthe grass as little as possible, oonly once a year. Currently needs 2 cuts a year to keep in check. It's just under a hectare.

oh, yes the car is a 993 turbo :-)

Certainly worth a try with a (ride-on) mulching mower in that case - I suspect ~1 hectare would take a while to push a standard mower round!!!

Excellent car choice!

[Silver993tt]

drgav2005 said:

Silver993tt said:

drgav2005 said:

Silver993TT

(Awesome car if it is the same as your signature by the way )

Not sure if it would entirely slow its growth - the stuff still grows, but looks bloody awful when it manages to get through the dead thatch below! I've got a spare mulching mower sitting in the garage if you wanted to try

Thanks but the plot is about 1000 miles away from London :-) I would like to cutthe grass as little as possible, oonly once a year. Currently needs 2 cuts a year to keep in check. It's just under a hectare.

oh, yes the car is a 993 turbo :-)

Certainly worth a try with a (ride-on) mulching mower in that case - I suspect ~1 hectare would take a while to push a standard mower round!!!

Excellent car choice!

currently using something similar to this:

http://www.gartentechnik-gailer.at/shop/balkenmaeh...

[Flintstone]

Silver993tt said:

Kind of related question but I have a large plot where I need to cut the grass twice a year....

[Simpo Two]

Have a sheep. At least you can eat them afterwards and make a coat out of them.

[drgav2005]

Simpo Two said:

Have a sheep. At least you can eat them afterwards and make a coat out of them.