The “Mulching” lawn mower is a bit of a misnomer. They don’t make mulch; if anything, the product they leave behind is more of a “compost” than a “mulch.”

The alternative to a mulching lawn mower is a lawn mower that comes with a bag attachment to collect grass clippings. If you opt for the latter, you should deposit the clippings into a compost pile, so as to acquire free compost for the garden and avoid wasting community landfill space.

The grass clippings left behind by a mulching mower essentially function as a lawn fertilizer, as if you were applying compost to the lawn. For this reason, it makes more sense for most urban and suburban homeowners to use a mulching mower, rather than bagging their grass clippings and dumping them in the compost pile. Essentially, mulching lawn mowers eliminate the “middle-man,” namely, the compost pile, instead providing you with compost directly. This means less work for you.

Mulching lawn mowers are designed so as to leave behind finely shredded grass clippings. Such clippings can be left on the lawn with impunity. By contrast, because lawn mowers without mulching capabilities produce clippings that are bulkier and readily mat together, their clippings need to be removed from the lawn, so that the grass doesn’t suffocate under them.