Dethatching your lawn the easy way Lawn thatch is a layer of grass clippings, dead leaves, and other organic material that builds up underneath your lawn, just above the topsoil.
Click here for more information on dethatchers Author: Brad Turner. Brinly-Hardy Co. Use a Sweeper to Collect Lawn Debris. Leave a Reply Cancel reply You must be logged in to post a comment. This allows the dethatcher tines to reach the roots without excessive interference. Again, certain grasses like St. Augustine, Bermuda and Zoysia naturally form thick thatch layers.
You can help prevent excessive thatch buildup however, by loosening compacted soil through aeration. Also avoid over fertilizing with nitrogen, overwatering, and mowing too high.
For more tips on how to dethatch your lawn properly, visit www. Thatch is a dense layer of dead and living organic material grass stems, roots, etc that forms between grass blades and the soil and roots. When it gets too thick, thatch can impede the penetration of water, air and nutrients, stressing the lawn.
If your lawn feels spongy when you walk on it, it probably has a thick layer of thatch. You can check by removing a small section of sod with a shovel. You have three options: remove thatch manually, rent equipment or hire a professional lawn care service.
Also realize that a dethatcher tears up a lot of material that is difficult to rake up and must be disposed of. For small lawns or thatch less than 1 inch thick, consider removing thatch with a rake. Doing the job manually causes the least amount of stress to a lawn.
A rake with hard tines may or may not work effectively to pull thatch to the soil surface. A specialized dethatching rake has sharpened tines designed to lift thatch away from soil. With this type of rake, use the same motion as with a traditional rake, allowing tines to dig into thatch and pulling it upward to loosen and lift thatch.
Done correctly, you should feel the thatch separating from soil and see it being lifted to the lawn surface. A dethatcher is also known as a vertical cutter, verticutter or power rake. This machine has vertical blades or rigid wire tines that slice into the organic layer and lift it to the lawn surface.
When using a dethatcher, blades must be set to a specific spacing based on grass type. Typically, the rental facility will do this, but be sure to ask. Cutting depth is also adjustable.
The rental agency should be able to advise you. A dethatcher is a large, heavy machine that requires some muscle to maneuver.
You'll need a truck to transport it and more than one person to load and unload it. If your lawn has a bouncy feel to it when you walk on it, thatch is probably building up.
To determine the thickness, remove a small square of your lawn to a depth of about 3" and measure the brown layer between the grass blades and the soil surface. Note the spongy layer of material above the mineral soil. When thatch has accumulated to an excessive thickness, it is best reduced by mechanical means.
Dethatcher machines known as vertical mowers, verticutters, dethatchers or power rakes have vertically spinning blades which pull some of the material to the surface as they slice the thatch layer. Most equipment rental outlets have dethatching machines available for renting.
Mechanical dethatching should be done in either late summer or fall when cool weather prevails. DO NOT attempt to remove the entire thatch layer in one treatment; DO NOT dethatch when soil is wet; only dethatch your lawn when it is needed rather than on a routine basis.
In addition to dethatching, the lawn should be aerated and limed if necessary. Lime and aeration stimulate bacterial decomposition by improving air, water and nutrient relationships.
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