OT- dethatching lawn ?

JK-NY · Mar 23, 2021

I wonder if anyone here can share info about dethatching lawns. Is it worth doing ? My lawn is nothing fancy but there has been some dead areas the last few years that respond to raking. I have a neighbor who has a very nice lawn which is fertilized, weed killer applied regularly etc who had large dead areas caused by thatch. I wondered if it might be worth buying a tow behind dethatcher and going over some areas before it greens up. I live in upstate NY where there is still a little snow in some spots but in general very dry for this time of the year, probably soon would be a good time to do it.

ray hofstetter · Mar 23, 2021

I tow a 48 thatch rake around my grass areas and the neighbors this time of the year. I also tow a plug aerator around too. I figure it cant hurt anything, and only cost a little diesel fuel. Grass seems to like it.....

Geo-TH,In · Mar 23, 2021

I never dethatch, never fertilizer, never mow less than 3 inches. I pick up clippings only if I have too because I let grass get to tall. My favorite is zoysia grass. Yes it turns brown after a frost. but feels like you are walking on a thick carpet. Never water. Durning a dry spell it looks great when other types of grass looks brown.
George

Robin Hood · Mar 23, 2021

The best thing anyone can do for his or her lawn is get a soil test, and follow the directions. The goal is to make the grass healthy enough to outgrow weeds, and be able to withstand disease and insect damage. Most Ag based universities will do the soil analysis. In Pa its about twenty dollars. Soil nutrition is the key.

Pastor John · Mar 23, 2021

Herbicide
Fertilizer
Plug in the fall

Im told thatching injures the roots and allows for disease

sandcastle1 · Mar 23, 2021

I have thatched by hand with a rake and it does work, we used to have a couple of wooden tooth rakes for doing this. That is a summer task as you do not want to pull up living grass, just to clear the ground grass density can be improved. I am not sure one of those towed items would work. This was something that we did in Western NY, in between Rochester and Buffalo.

ASEguy · Mar 24, 2021

I use a flexible tine rake not a firm metal tine rake and follow up with a lawn sweeper.

John M · Mar 24, 2021

This may sound crazy, and you may not be able to do it where you are, but every 3 years we burn our yard. We make the first cutting one level down on the mower than normal, then light it up. It never gets big, and had never gotten out of hand. There is one area beside the field we never burn to reduce the risk of the field catching fire and you can tell the difference. Once the grass starts coming back, we go over it with nitrogen and its good to go and looks great for a couple of more years.

fred goodrich · Mar 24, 2021

Definattly worth doing and here's the unit to do it with. Located near Binghamton NY

OT- dethatching lawn ?

JK-NY

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ray hofstetter

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Geo-TH,In

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Robin Hood

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Pastor John

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sandcastle1

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ASEguy

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John M

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fred goodrich

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