How to Dethatch a Lawn
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A key step to growing and maintaining lush, green grass is removing thatch from your lawn, a process that’s known as dethatching. Thatch is a layer of dead stems, roots and other debris that collects between the grass and the soil. When thatch builds up it forms a nearly impenetrable mat that prevents water, nutrients and air from reaching the soil, eventually choking out the grass.
Dethatching is necessary when the thatch layer is about 1 inch thick, and it’s recommended that you remove thatch at least once a year.
For northern grasses the best time to dethatch your lawn is between late-summer and early-fall. For southern grasses, you should dethatch in late-spring. Here are the five steps to dethatching a lawn:
Step 1: Choose the Appropriate Tool
To remove thatch from a relatively small yard, use a thatching rake, which has a series of closely spaced sharp, rigid blades. Simply pull the rake across the lawn to rip out the matted thatch.
A thatching rake is surprisingly fast and effective, but it can be very fatiguing after awhile. So, if you’ve got a large lawn save yourself some time and toil by getting a gas-powered dethatcher, walk-behind machine that’s armed with hundreds or sharp blades or flexible tines, as shown below. Simply run the machine back and forth across the lawn to remove the thatch.
Regardless of whether you use a thatching rake or dethatching machine, be sure to mark the locations of any sprinkler heads, shallow-buried cables, or other obstructions prior to dethatching the lawn.
Step 2: Rake the Lawn Clean
When you’re done dethatching the lawn, remove all the loosened thatch with a leaf rake or yard vacuum. Then, water the lawn until the soil is thoroughly saturated.
Step 3: Aerate the Soil
Aeration is an important, but often overlooked, part of lawn care. It’s the process of punching holes into the lawn, so water and nutrients can readily feed the grass. Rent a gas-powered core aerator and run it across the lawn. The machine will aerate the lawn and leave behind small plugs of soil, which you can easily rake into the grass.
Step 4: Overseed the Lawn
If the grass looks a little thin or is balding in spots, now’s a good time to overseed the lawn. Overseeding is simply spreading new grass seed over an existing lawn. Check the grass-seed label for spread rates, but most grasses recommended dispersing 10 to 15 lbs. of grass seed for every 1,000 sq. ft. of lawn.
The exception is a mixture of Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass, which only needs three to four lbs. of seed per 1,000 sq. ft. After overseeding, water the lawn well.
Step 5: Add Fertilizer
The final step is to apply a lawn fertilizer with pre-emergent herbicide, which will prevent weeds from germinating. Now be patient, it typically takes four or five weeks for the lawn to recover and show signs of new growth.
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