Its organic material that is broken down by microbes in the soil. You try your best to maintain a beautiful lawn and keep a pretty property thats appealing to both you and anyone who may drive by. Rake the builtup brown matter from under the green grass and dispose of it. Its not advisable to dethatch the lawn if the region experiences a heat wave or. To check, just work your fingers into the grass and note the depth of the thatch layer. Unless your lawn is in dire need of the work, consider scheduling your dethatching in the. When the best time is to dethatch your lawn depends on whether you grow a coolseason grass or a warmseason grass. How to dethatch lawns landscapers talk local blog talk. If the lawn is small and you like exercise, you can remove thatch manually with a sturdy leaf rake, hoe or inexpensive thatching rake. Getting the lawn ready before you begin its important to prepare the lawn before dethatching by mowing it at the lowest height on your mower. To remove thatch from a small lawn, use a thatching rake, which will slice into the lawn and bring up vast amounts of dead material.
Depending on where you live in the country, and if you have coolseason grass or warmseason grass, you should dethatch in early fall before you fertilize, or in the spring after the grass has begun to green. This might sound strange, but its an important first step. Manually with a leaf rake, garden rake, or thatching rake. Before dethatching, mow the lawn grass a little shorter than you normally do. If you are planning to overseed a lawn, you should plan to dethatch before seeding. Dethatch the lawn the best time to dethatch a coolseason lawn is early fall or early spring and a warmseason lawn is early summer. You should set the blade to a specific spacing based on grass type. Pour lawnstar liquid lawn dethatcher into hoseend sprayer. A convex or dethatching rake is better than a regular leaf rake and a socalled power rake, which can be rented from a rental center, is the best rake of all, but any rake is better than nothing. Also, before i learned that i needed to dethatch, i applied turf. Manually dethatch a lawn the same way you would normally rake, albeit much more deeply and vigorously.
Nov 15, 2008 almost every lawn needs dethatching about once a year, or whenever the thatch reaches a thickness of about 12 inch. Dethatching is tough on a lawn, so do it when the lawn will have the best chance to recover. Liquid lawn dethatcher potent enzymatic formula lawnstar. I have a lot of brown dead grass material on my lawn that sometimes i can rake up with a spring rake and then that patch of lawn looks better and more lush. If the soil is too dry, the aerator cant get down into the dirt deep enough and you wont pull a substantial plug.
Dethatching and aerating your lawn sunset magazine. The lawn ends up looking pretty ratty, but if you dethatch at the right time, the lawn recovers quickly and fills in. Apr 03, 20 dont dethatch your lawn between times of dormancy and active growth when nutrient stores and energy in the roots are low. To determine the thickness, remove a small square of your lawn to a depth of about 3 inches and measure the brown layer. For coolseason grasses, the best time to dethatch is late summer or early fall. A little thatch isnt a bad thing, 0 thatch is undesirable. Here is what ive found online to be a decent course of action. There are also environmentally healthy products that inoculate thatch with microbial digesters, which break down the thatch into soilbuilding humus. Chances are, youd prefer a power rake, which can be rented at some hardware stores or equipment rental centers. Hoping to skip the aerator rental and save a little on the cost. The lawn should have the best chance to recover as dethatching can be tough on the surface. People seem to want to get outside and do something, but dethatching at this time of year is a terrible idea. How to dethatch and aerate your lawn true value projects.
Managing thatch is an important component of maintaining a healthy lawn. Dethatching is pretty stressful on a lawn, and it can be on you, too. Thatch is a thin layer of dead roots and grass that can prevent soil from absorbing nutrients. Water and fertilize the lawn according to your soil test results. How to dethatch your lawn the simple solution to healthy. Grass seed cant germinate unless it lands on the soil and has enough sunlight. For warmseason grasses like bermuda or zoysia, the best time to dethatch is during the late spring. Just a few ideas to help you get to the next level with your lawn. No matter how you do it, dethatching stresses a lawn. Examine your grass for an underlying layer of thatch. If the thatch in those wedges is thicker than 12 inch, it is time to dethatch.
Youre proud of the space youve created, and you plan to keep it that way. For large lawns, you may want to consider renting a walkbehind dethatching machine. With summer winding to a close, its time to concentrate on lawn recovery to ensure your grass returns with full force next spring. I am awaiting results from a soil test to check the ph. If the former, dethatch either in early spring or in early fall. You can also hire a lawn service to do the job for you. Thick layers of thatch can block water and air from the roots and become infested with insects, fungal and bacterial diseases. Dethatch coolseason grasses in fall, warmseason types in early spring. Pennington is committed to providing you with the finest in grass seed and lawn care products so you can enjoy a beautiful, healthy lawn youre proud to own. I never had time to deal with it before, so i paid someone to cut it, but now i need to personally take control and get into the whole lawn care process. A rake with hard tines may or may not work effectively to pull thatch to the soil surface. I am thinking i should get a dethatch to have that done on my lawn for the overall appearance. Then, water lightly so the soil is moist, but not saturated. Alexander pin share tweet share email dethatching and aerating your lawn can help to maintain the good soil and water drainage that are part of a healthy lawn.
Both processes are hard on young grass, so do this in the late summer or fall. For small areas, use a thatching rake, which is a sharptined rake that rips the thatch out of the lawn, to remove thatch. The accumulation of decomposing roots, grass and debris in a lawn is called thatch. This is when the coolseason grasses are coming into their prime time for growth which will help them recover quickly from the stress of being dethatched. A thin layer of thatch less than 12 inch thick can be beneficial to the lawn because it helps to limit weed germination, reduce water evaporation, and protect from frost damage. The best time to dethatch bermuda grass is in midsummer when the grass is growing most rapidly. By learning why, when and how to dethatch your lawn properly and taking steps to prevent thatch, you can keep your lawn on track for healthy, thick, lush growth. If water runs off without penetrating the grass, then it may be time to dethatch the lawn. Thatch is the layer of dead grass that sits between the green part of your lawn and the ground beneath. How to dethatch lawn using a thatching rake youtube. If you suspect your lawn has acquired an excessive buildup of thatch, you can figure out if this is true through the following method. I pulled up a full paper lawn bag worth of thatch, which was quite impressive, but my abs and lower back were pretty sore the next day. Most coolseason grass does not need to be dethatched, in which case you are just damaging the lawn. How and when to aerate your lawn mantis garden tools.
The best time to dethatch your lawn is prior to aeration. The blade slices the thatch and lifts it to the lawn surface. But sometimes, thatch builds up too fast for natural processes to break it down. At this depth, the thatch layer is withholding water, absorbing nutrients and shading grass crowns or roots. Right now, the grasstoweed ratio in our southern wisconsin lawn is tolerable, but id like to give the grass and advantage for next year. There are special rakes and machines that can remove a layer of thatch, but there also are special lawnmower blades that can be used to attack thatch. As an added bonus, i get to enjoy the cooler temperatures in the spring morning here in sunny florida, which is the best time to apply the liquid lawn dethatcher. I borrowed nicks rake and started pulling up thatch from our front lawn. It forms a barrier, keeping moisture and air from going where your grass needs it. Lawn aeration, coring, and aerifying are different terms you might hear for the same procedure. Dont dethatch if youre in a drought or a heat wave. After getting rid of the thatch, you can compost it and recycle it back into the garden. Lawn aeration is a technique that landscaping pros swear by, but is it right for your yard. A nonpowered dethatcher is more reasonably priced and is usually dragged behind a lawn tractor or operated manually.
Dethatch lawns as often as thatch becomes deeper than 12 inch. Set a cup on your lawn and see how long it takes to fill to 112 and split that time up over a couple days. However, thick thatch layers can prevent water, air, and nutrients from penetrating the soil, causing reduced root growth and increased potential for drought stress. Generally, late spring and early fall are the best times, but. Is it necessary and safe to dethatch and aerate a lawn.
The husband and i are planning to overseed, but not sure how involved we need to go. So avoid winter, of course, and shoot for early fall if you have coolseason grass or late spring if you have warmseason grass. Once you remove the thatch layer, clean the lawn with a metal leaf rake. Doing the job manually causes the least amount of stress to a lawn. I know i need to dethatch, but should i also aerate. For a quicker fillin, some people prefer to reseed the lawn right after dethatching. Grass roots will grow into the thatch instead of the soil, and plants will pull out whenever the thatch is disturbed by raking or mowing. Sep 07, 2009 the reason i did the whole lawn dethatch, aerate and overseed the day i did was because of the rain we got the previous two days. When to dethatch a lawn and how often howstuffworks. You can either aerate your lawn yourself or call a lawn service. Dont dethatch your lawn between times of dormancy and active growth when nutrient stores and energy in the roots are low. What to know about lawn aeration how to know if you.
Manually dethatching, although time consuming, tends to be easier on your lawn compared to power dethatching. As you pull it through the grass, it lifts up and moves the thatch. When to aerate your lawn if you have heavily compacted soil or if your turf has a lot of thin or bare areas, you should probably aerate your lawn. Almost every lawn needs dethatching about once a year, or whenever the thatch reaches a thickness of about 12 inch. Premix with a generous amount of water to ensure sufficient spray volume for application.
For warmseason grasses, dethatch in late spring or after the second mowing. If youre maintaining your lawn all yearround, you may have asked yourself, when is the best time. I dont want to do it too early and freeze young shoots, but i dont want to do it too late and uproot new growth. The reason i did the whole lawn dethatch, aerate and overseed the day i did was because of the rain we got the previous two days.
If you have a small patch of lawn and dont mind a little exercise, you can use a convex rake. The best methods to accomplish this include dethatching, aerating and seeding your lawn. Cut a wedge out of the soil and turf from several areas of the lawn. Rake the builtup brown matter from under the green grass and dispose of. Pushing rake tines deeply down into the grass when you are raking leaves in the fall or raking to clean up the lawn in early spring is an easy method that you can use for dethatching lawns. Most people overseed and fertilize immediately after aerating and dethatching to help ease it back to health. In colder climates it has become a common ritual to dethatch as soon as the snow melts. For a coolseason grass, like fescue, this will be in the late summer or early fall. A core aerator removes plugs of soil from your lawn, which helps loosen compacted soil and allows vital air, water, and nutrients to reach the roots. Smaller to medium sized lawns can be manually dethatched. As a general rule, plan to dethatch your lawn when the thickness of the thatch is more than 12 inch deep.
Sep 21, 2017 the best time to dethatch bermuda grass is in midsummer when the grass is growing most rapidly. The best time to dethatch your lawn evergreen turf. Mar 30, 2017 in this video i show you how to use a thatch or thatching rake depending on what you want to call it to dethatch the lawn. Thatch is a thin layer of organic debris that forms between the leaf blades and roots. The tines on the dethatcher will pull out all the thatch in your lawn, and you can finally go through the lawn with a lawn sweeper to sweep off all the thatch that has been removed. If your lawn is small, you can dethatch it with a special. If you need to dethatch your lawn, you have a few options.
A specialized dethatching rake has sharpened tines designed to lift thatch away. For small lawns or thatch less than 1 inch thick, consider removing thatch with a rake. The best time to dethatch a coolseason lawn is early fall or early spring and a warmseason lawn is early summer. Thatch, which is a woven layer of decay resistant stems, roots, rhizomes, and stolons, may prevent a lawn from. Since i mulch my lawn clippings all of the time, i rely on liquid lawn dethatcher to keep my thatch layer at a healthy level for my lawn to thrive. Do not dethatch near the end of the growing season, or your lawn will not have time to recover. This type of tool features vertical blades instead of horizontal cutting blades. If your lawn is more than 3,000 square feet, the easiest way to dethatch your lawn is using a vertical lawn mower or power rake. Dethatching and aerating your lawn can help to maintain the good soil and water drainage that are part of a healthy lawn. Dethatching is an important component of lawn maintenance. Unless your lawn is in dire need of the work, consider scheduling your dethatching in the fall, and coupling it with an aeration and seeding to prepare for. In a few months, youll finally see the result of your hard work in the form of fresh green grass finally growing in your yard.
To determine the thickness, remove a small square of your lawn to a depth of about 3 inches and measure the brown layer between the grass blades and the soil surface. What is thatch and why should you worry about getting rid of it. Most people either dont know what it is or just over look it. Discover how to dethatch your yard and cultivate healthy grass. Overall the lawn just seems beat down and compacted. Learn whether or not you need to dethatch your lawn, and how to dethatch your lawn. A pullbehind unit tears rhizomes and stolons and pulls up thatch with a series of wire fingers that scratch the surface to various depths, depending on the weight applied to it. If your lawn has a bouncy feel to it when you walk on it, thatch is probably building up.
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