Question
tom
I live in western Canada,it is generally hot and dry during the summer,and the soil in my area is clay.
I have always gone by the general wisdom that you should mulch the clippings and leave them on the lawn,which is also easier than bagging.
I have noticed that on my lawn and several others,that if clumps of grass are left on the lawn for several days,the grass underneath turns brown and dies.
You cant leave anything in one spot for longer than a week or the grass will die.
Does this have anything to do with mulching? I have lived on the east and west coast and never had this problem.


Answer
Hey Bud-
        Sorry it has taken so long to reply but I have had some work issues going on and have been working some pretty long hours last week.
       When you say mulch do you mean you have a lawnmower that is specifically for mulching? Or do you just let the clippings shoot out the side? I've even seen people that just wont hook the bag up to the lawnmower and call it mulching.
       Unless you have a lawn mower that specifically has a mulching feature,your not mulching because what your doing is cutting your grass and letting it set there which will kill it where it lays for sure because it will block out the sunlight.
        A mulching mower will cut the pieces up over and over into little bits that you wont even see on your lawn.Because they are so small they fall in between the individual blades of grass and they lay on the soil where they decompose returning all the good things to your grass that it needs.
        The only other thing that I can think is that maybe you wait too long in between mowings.sometimes if I wait like 3-4 weeks before I cut my grass then the mower gets bogged down and the clipping will kind of come out the bottom edges. when this happen I just run over them again and they get chopped up nice.
         Bottom line is that you shouldn't have clumps like that. It will for sure kill the grass.If you have too rake them around your lawn until they fall in between the blades to the soil or whatever.
         I hope this helps,and if you have any more lawn care needs,you know what to do....