Keeping your lawn alive and healthy becomes a challenging task for a homeowner if they are unprepared to fight an ongoing war. The constant refueling of fertilizers and the heavy firepower of mowing and maintenance brings on at taxing toll for many unprepared gardeners. A key component of this battle revolves around the management of thatch on your lawn, through the use of dethatching rakes.
- Dethatching: For the un-informed is the use of a specialized machine which can remove thatch from the lawn, without damaging it.
- Thatch: You might now be wondering what part of your lawn the thatch is, well in most grass and shrub eco-systems a natural build-up of organic and inorganic matter accumulates overtime which causes what is called thatch.
The primary goal of the lawn war is to win the battle against thatch build up, as it truly can ruin the look of your yard if left untreated.
Thatch spreads and populates over all corners of the yard if left unchecked, as it is the result of:
1) Highly acidic soils
2) Improper fertilizer usage
3) Overall poor lawn practices
The longer this pestilence exists, the easier the rest of the lawn will falter and eventually die off. Using a dethatching rake is your weapon of choice to remove the potentially harmful buildup of thatch. However, don’t use it foolhardy; make sure you have assessed your lawn for the proper amount of thatch, as the average amount is just enough to be more beneficial than detrimental. Inspect a cross-section sample of the thatch and if it measures more than one inch (2.5cm) thick then have no fear in shinning up your dethatching rake as it is time to remove the unsightly thatch.
Tactical measures
Your tactics are only good as your arsenal; know what tools you have at your disposal to take back ownership of your turf. The best dethatching rake, that fits a budget, provides good output, for example:
- The Green Works Electric Dethatcher has a complete functioning 10amp motor that provides reliable performance with a compact ergonomic design. A core aerator is the trustworthy companion to the detaching rake. It acts as pre-emptive defensive against thatch.
- The Yard Butler Lawn Aerator provides exactly what you need without any additional hassle. Make the right preparations before the battle begins so you don’t have to worry about being missing in action.
Choose to do your dethatching during the later summer months to allow a full recovery of your soil for the following spring’s germination time. This time is also important to keep, since it reduces the need to constantly water your lawn as you normally would during the summer time.
Am I doing this right?
A brief explanation on how to use a dethatching rake revolves around a few key highlights that shouldn’t be forgotten:
- If the thatch is not within the acceptable thickness range, you may want to look after the alternative methods of aerating the lawn; this method can be accomplished using a core aerator.
- The lawn should be mown to a median height which roughly equates to half its usual height. The method of obtaining your power rake dethatcher boils down to whether or not you are an avid landscaper wishing to make a the right investment in purchasing one, or the amateur gardener who just wants to get the job done.
- Since depending on your usage you can rent it for a couple of hours to get the job done or bite the bullet and buy one.
- The depth and blade spacing of the dethatching rake will require some immediate attention as this would control how the device operates above the soil to remove thatch.
- The ‘default’ depth setting is half of one inch below the most flattens section of soil. The blade spacing depends on the type of grass inhabiting the lawn. To get the best result for blade spacing, simply do a sample patch and see what adjustments in spacing needs to be made to address the type of grass present.
- As long as the adjustments have been made, just pass the dethatching rake over the grass several times to ensure a job well done, dispose of the thatch and left over organic material that was uplifted.
The Assemblage
The clumping mat of green vegetation ruining your lawn’s appearance is definitely in alliance with the thatch to take over your lawn from you. The domination duo should be tackled without prejudice and in the same manner. Some points to remember while working with it:
- Take note that a dethatching rake for moss problems is used in the same fashion as with thatches, as a moss killer would not get the job done as effectively.
- The thatch provides the moss with an acidic environment that just compliments each other’s growth, so targeting one of them would not eliminate the problem.
- Be cognizant with your power rake dethatcher that once the deed has been done that you are able to use a regular rake to gather up the dead stolons from the moss.
- You don’t want moss propagation from left over debris on the ground to occur because of some simple mistake.
As long as you fought the war diligently you will be awarded for your hard work. Just like after any battlefield zone the remains are filled with destruction and disarray, expect the same with your lawn after dethatching. Keep in mind though that you have won the war. The detached lawn would most definitely have a displeasing look but it’s actually the silver lining on the clouds. The best time to reseed and add fertilize for healthier and greener grass is your award for the taking, make advantage of it. You can holster away your dethatching rake and bring out the hose; this is because the open soil allows for easier loss of sub-surface water to the atmosphere, so water up the frontline. Be the one in charge of your lawn or patio with a dethatching rake on your side, your lawn will thank you.