Why detach lawn

Among the warm-season grass species, Bermuda is more likely to accumulate thatch than zoysia. Check with your local cooperative extension service to better understand the grass species that work in your area. There are multiple ways to figure out if your lawn has a thatch problem.

The easiest is to simply check to see if your lawn is green on top but brown below. Either of those conditions indicates thatch. Another test is to walk across the lawn: If it feels spongy, it may be due to thatch.

If you are still in doubt, use a spade or knife to cut several small plugs from the lawn. Measure the thatch, which will appear as a layer of spongy brown material between the grass and the soil. Lawns should be dethatched only when conditions are best to promote rapid recovery of your grass type. The best time to dethatch cool-season lawns is late August to early October, depending on your location, when the grass is growing vigorously and few weed seeds are likely to germinate.

There are several ways. For lawns with moderate levels of thatch, aerating see below may do the trick. Or use a cavex rake aka thatching or lawn dethatcher rake —which has unusual semicircular tines. Those knifelike blades cut through the sod and pull out thatch.

For large lawns with serious thatch problems, the most effective solution is a vertical mower aka power rake. Resembling a heavy-duty power mower but with a series of spinning vertical knives, it cuts through thatch. You can do your part to manage water usage, and keep your lawn. When you're on a quest for the perfect lawn, you're bound to encounter challenges. These lawn dethatching basics can help understand: What is Thatch?

If you've ever seen a cross-section of soil and grass roots, you've seen the layer of organic debris known as thatch. A mix of dead and living plant material, thatch forms at the base of grass plants, where stems meet roots and soil. Some organic matter, such as small grass clippings or mulched leaves, break down quickly in healthy lawns, but other materials take much longer to decompose. When buildup outpaces breakdown, your lawn's thatch layer grows thicker.

A thin thatch layer allows water, nutrients and air to penetrate into soil and reach waiting plant roots. But when thatch grows thick, grass suffers. Thatch layers of 1 inch or more become barriers instead of benefits. Thick thatch blocks water and fertilizer, and grass roots get trapped in thatch, where they're vulnerable to heat, drought and stress. Water from irrigation can accumulate in the thatch layer, too, so grass roots suffocate from lack of air.

Thick thatch also provides a breeding ground for lawn disease and insect pests. Some lawn grasses are more prone to thatch buildup than other. Vigorous, spreading grasses such as Kentucky bluegrass , Bermudagrass and creeping fescues, may need regular dethatching.

Clump-forming grasses, such as tall fescue or perennial ryegrass , seldom have thatch problems. People commonly use a spring tine garden rake to remove thatch from their lawn, however this is often quite physically challenging work.

To combat this, Flymo has a range of electric lawn rakes that remove moss and thatch effortlessly. There are three ways to tell if your lawn needs dethatching; 1. By touch - if your lawn is extremely bouncy underfoot then you are likely to have a thick layer of thatch on your lawn.

By sight - you should be able to see the soil between the grass blades. Measurement — a simple way to tell the level of thatch on your lawn is to dig up a small section of the lawn using a trowel about 3 inches thick. Dethatching can leave your lawn looking like a mess. Here is why:. Cool-season grasses are coming into their prime time for growth in early spring and in early fall. Dethatching them at these times is ideal because they will recover more quickly at these times from the stress of being dethatched.

These times just happen to coincide when you will be raking to clean up the lawn in early spring and raking leaves off the lawn in the fall. It does not work out quite so conveniently for homeowners with warm-season grasses. Dethatch lawns composed of warm-season grasses in late spring, which is just when they are "coming into their own" and will recuperate fastest from undergoing dethatching. A convex or "dethatching" rake is better than a regular leaf rake for dethatching a lawn.

And a so-called "power rake," which can be rented from a rental center, is the best rake of all. But do not stress over the type of rake you use. Any deep raking that you do is better than nothing, especially if you faithfully rake every year. Of the two solutions, dethatching is certainly preferable to core aeration because core aeration requires a mechanical device.

Unhappily, you may not have a choice. The severity of the situation determines which solution is implemented. Dethatching is for mild cases. You will know afterward that it worked if your grass starts looking better the following year. If grass health does not pick up, that could mean that you have a more severe case.

Core aeration may be necessary for your lawn. It is best performed in fall. If you have badly compacted soil, that is another reason to aerate your lawn. You have three options when it comes to core aeration:.