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5 tips for a low-cost, low-stress yard

Leave the cuttings on your lawn
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Leave the cuttings on your lawn

Want to skip some stress when you mow? Leave the clipping bag in the garage, drop that rake and leave those clippings where they fall.

Research at the University of Connecticut has shown that you can cut your use of nitrous fertilizer by 50 percent or more, just by letting the grass clippings do the work for you. "It's kind of a no-brainer, but people don't do it," Littlefield says. "They will decompose and the nutrients in them will return to the soil," she says. "It's recycling."

You also don't have to worry with emptying clipping bags and leaving more yard waste bound for the landfill.

A lot of homeowners worry that those clippings will contribute to thatch and endanger the health of their lawn. Not so, says Littlefield. Because you're letting your grass grow longer, you're only taking a little off the top. And that's not going to get matted or cause problems, she says.


 

 

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