Lush lawn - higher home value

A lot of people bag their clippings to prevent thatch, which is a matted layer of undecomposed stems that can strangle the lawn.

But clippings are not the culprits. Setting your mower to "mulch" grinds up the clippings so fine that they won't harm the lawn, and it recycles nutrients and moisture back into the turf, says Rusty Stachlewitz, a former golf course superintendent who's now program director at the Lawn Institute, a trade group.

Collect clippings in a bag only if you're mowing tall or wet grass.

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