There are many ways to come up with a good lawn. It pays to have a well-maintained lawn. This will help you keep that lawn attractive and healthy. That is why you have to be cautious of thatch in your lawn.
What Is a Thatch?
Any lawn that is properly maintained by the owner can stay thatch-free for quite some time. However, once the lawn gets older, thatch may come. If this happens, then dethatching will be necessary. Your thatching efforts will be crucial in ensuring that the little debris won’t develop in your soil.
There are reasons that will cause thatching to occur. It is best to get to know them if you want your lawn to be free from thatch. The most common reason that thatch accumulates in the soil is attributed to failing to aerate the soil. Regularly cutting the grasses can also contribute when the clippings are left on the grounds to decompose.
The Necessity of Thatching Your Lawn
It is very important to get rid of the thatch in your lawn. Just be sure that there is enough thatch in your lawn to remove so that your efforts at dethatching will be worth the expense. It is also equally important to know the available options for you to effectively get rid of the thatches.
Be sure to check properly the amount of thatch that accumulated in your lawn. Normally, thatch won’t be a bother. However, be alarmed when they accumulate up to half inch high. Their presence at this stage will hamper the proper distribution of nutrients to the soil. This can even encourage the presence of pests in your lawn.
Thatching is also crucial for people who have shaded lawns. The shade can sometimes contribute to the growth of thatch. There are grasses that don’t thrive well in shaded areas. They can wilt and eventually decompose. This can later accumulate as thatch.
Ways to Do the Thatching
Aeration is the best alternative to prevent the overcome the thatch problem. This can help prevent the growth of thatch and it is especially helpful if there are still very few of them to contend with. The process will allow the soil to have a facilitated passage for water, air and nutrients.
An aerator can be used to achieve this goal. There are aerators that can create holes on the ground with spikes. Others can help by pulling on the plugs by puncturing the ground.
You have the option to hire the services of a professional to get your lawn properly aerated. Of course, the service will come for a fee. This is why most people would rather do the aerating themselves so they can save money.
Normally, a rake can be used to manually aerate the lawn. This is manageable for households with small lawns because the task can take a good amount of time to finish. It will do well to overcome thatch with less than an inch height.
There is also an option to use the right equipment to aerate your lawn. Lawn aerator equipment will be perfect for households with larger lawns and with more thatch to get rid of. This will use an engine to cut the thatch on the grounds surface. You can even choose to modify the depths the lawn aerator will attempt to reach.
However, a lawn aerator equipment doesn’t come cheap. They tend to be very heavy and also very expensive. This is why if you can’t afford to purchase your own lawn aerator, then it is best to rent one. There are gardening centers and rental outlets that you can approach to help you in this regard.
De-Thatch a Lawn in 7 Steps
Don’t let thatch accumulate excessively in your lawn. This dense layer of grass plant crowns, roots and living and dead stems at the surface of the soil works like a thatched roof that blocks water, air and fertilizer from getting to the roots. As a result, the roots become very weak and shallow. Susceptibility to browning and thinning follows eventually during drought and hot seasons. More than that, the thatch layer poses as a breeding ground for insects and multiplication of disease spores.
Thatch isn’t caused primarily by grass clippings. Soil microorganisms can digest little finely chopped clippings and thus don’t add to thatch build-up. Just make sure that your lawn mower blades are regularly sharpened and your lawn is mowed often to achieve fine clippings.
The following are steps to dethatch:
1. Kneel on your lawn to determine if your lawn has excessive thatch. If the build-up is more than one inch then proceed to the next step.
2. De-thatch your lawn by ripping out the thick thatch that is blocking air, water and light from reaching the surface. The lawn may look rough for awhile but new grass will grow soon.
3. Using a de-thatching or stiff-tined garden rake to scrape the lawn. Make sure that you dig the tines right into the thatch and get out as many as you can without the grass.
4. If you can’t see the ground after raking vigorously, try using a de-thatching blade. Some lawn mowers have a de-thatching blade but you can also rent a de-thatcher from a reliable dealer which can teach you how to operate it with caution.
5. If your lawn is dried up you should water it the day before de-thatching. Move the de-thatcher starting from the outermost part of your house so that you can master it before going into the high-traffic sections.
6. Always keep your eyes on what you are doing. Make sure that the de-thatching blades are on target by cutting through the thatch layer without disturbing the surface of the soil. Remember to pass the machine over each section of the lawn just once.
7. Clean up the piles of removed thatch using a leaf rake and recycle them as compost.