Do I need Power Raking or Dethatching?

Thatch is a layer of living and dead grass shoots, stems and roots that forms between the grass blades and the soil.  Some thatch is beneficial but excessive thatch can prevent vital nutrients from reaching the roots and will prevent the grass from thriving.  

Some people have told me that they water and fertilizer like they should, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference.  The problem could be excessive thatch. If you have a thick layer of thatch it creates a barrier that prevents the fertilizer from getting to the roots.  This thick layer of thatch will also absorb a great deal of water and prevent it from getting to the roots.  

What can you do about thatch?  The easiest way to deal with thatch is taking preventative measures such as regular core aerating, dethatching, and debris removal.  

Core aeration removes plugs from the lawn.  This also cuts through the thatch where those plugs have been removed so over the course of several years the thatch won’t be able to build up with regular aeration.  

Dethatching or power raking is a way of removing some of the existing thatch.  Dethatching and power raking are stressful to the lawn and should be done in lower temperatures so the lawn area can recover easier.  Some dethatching machines are more aggressive than others. The most common dethatching machine uses metal flail blades. My experience is these machines can pull up as much healthy grass as it pulls up thatch.   

Many times, I have found that it is very easy to “scalp” portions of the lawn area, especially if the lawn is not extremely level. For this reason, I have switched my dethatching machine to a brush style machine.  This machine uses a sweeper style broom with thousands or plastic bristles to pull up the thatch.  

It also sweeps any debris such as rocks, mulch, wood chips off the grass area.  Mulching the grass when mowing can also add to the thatch problem. Mulching when mowing does help re-introduce nutrients into the lawn but over mulching can create a thick layer of dead grass to build up faster than it can decay and provide nutrients to the lawn.  

I do not believe there is one magic thing that can be done to have a beautiful healthy lawn.  It is a combination of aeration, dethatching, proper fertilizing, weed control, property water and proper mowing that will give you a beautiful lawn.  

If you need help with your lawn feel free to give us a call and we can help you figure out what you can do to have a healthier lawn.