Depends on the situation. Side discharge is fine some of the time. Mulch is great. Very deep leaves under matured shade trees or blown by heavy winds into drifts is tough to mulch. Green leaves that fall from trees are pretty tough to mulch as they do not shatter up. If you have some grassy weeds that shoots heads up like foxtail it is nice to bag those off to keep them down a bit. Bagged clipping can be nice to cover waste ground with to keep weeds down, or to lightly cover grass seed. Honey locust pods can be shattered up by mulching but often times are so thick bagging is needed. A three in one mower is pretty useful around my yards.
#3
BHLC
We don't bag much. Most just lies in place
#4
lawn mower fanatic
It depends. I mulch in the spring and summer. It is less of a hassle, because I don't have a place to put the grass. But in the fall I bag if there are leaves on the ground. I know mulched up leaves are good for the soil but I like the look of NO leaves on the ground (while it lasts). The bigger the pile at the road the better! :tongue:
I normally mulch. I start mowing in the thickest area. If I see clumps of clippings staying on top of the grass, then I switch to bagging. As long as I mow weekly and the blades are set to high (about 3"), I don't see a need to bag. Mulching also reduces fertilizer use.
