Grass clippings are a major part of New Jersey’s municipal solid waste stream. Like other highly recyclable materials, recycling grass clippings can help reduce the amount of for disposal. As a Mountain Lakes resident, you are already helping to reduce the amount of waste you generate by recycling your newspapers, metal cans, plastic bottles, glass jars and junk mail. You can also easily recycle the grass clippings you generate each time you mow your lawn -- and save time and money while doing it. Remember, Morris County no longer allows grass clippings to be disposed of with the regular garbage. Landfilling grass clippings is a waste of money, landfill space and nutrients contained in the clippings themselves.
So what can you do? Just leave your clippings on the lawn when you mow. In fact, studies show that homeowners who leave clippings on the lawn actually reduce their total annual mowing by 20-25%. Grass clippings provide a natural and healthy fertilizer for a growing lawn. You’ll spend less on chemical fertilizers since clippings left on the lawn recycle nutrients back into the soil.
To maintain your lawn properly, avoid mowing more than the top third of the growing grass. Done consistently, this will result in an attractive, neatly trimmed lawn because the small clippings disappear when they filter down to the soil. Most New Jersey lawns thrive when mowed to about 2 to 3 inches, especially in the summer. The taller grass will shade the soil, cool roots and prevent weeds, resulting in a healthier lawn.
Mulching mowers or mulching attachments on regular mowers chop clippings into fine pieces which slip easily down to the soil. A study conducted by the University of Connecticut found that the nitrogen from grass clippings showed up in the growing grass within two weeks, promoting thick green growth and a strong root system. By the end of the third year of the study, researchers estimated that about a third of the nitrogen found in grass came from previously recycled clippings. Annually, this adds nearly 2 pounds of nitrogen to each thousand square feet of lawn.