Thatching

[ACutAbovesiny]

I will be finished thatching all my customers tomorrow. I got a late start because of all the rain. How about everyone else? Are you all done yet?

[1MajorTom]

do you dethatch every one of your customers lawns, or just the ones that need it? we do not do a ton of dethatching, no. but we will do a nice amount of aerations this fall.

[ACutAbovesiny]

This year we did them all. Its our first fall with them and I want to start off the spring with a healthy start (hopefully).

[ACutAbovesiny]

do you dethatch every one of your customers lawns, or just the ones that need it? we do not do a ton of dethatching, no. but we will do a nice amount of aerations this fall.


Should I aerate instead of dethatching next fall? (Except on the ones that really need it.)

[DoetschOutdoor]

IMO, if a lawn does not absolutely need dethatching I do not want to do it. Most of my lawns do not need dethatching but many of them get aerated 2 times a year and are healthy. Dethatching is tough on the lawns and is alot more work than aerating since you have to get all the thatch raked up and hauled so if you can get away with aeration do that.

[ACutAbovesiny]

IMO, if a lawn does not absolutely need dethatching I do not want to do it. Most of my lawns do not need dethatching but many of them get aerated 2 times a year and are healthy. Dethatching is tough on the lawns and is alot more work than aerating since you have to get all the thatch raked up and hauled so if you can get away with aeration do that.


I will be buying an aerator during the off season. Do you have any suggestions?

[nmez21]

Acutabovesiny: I am familiar with dethatching in the early spring... are there any advantages to doing it in the fall instead? thanks

[ACutAbovesiny]

Acutabovesiny: I am familiar with dethatching in the early spring... are there any advantages to doing it in the fall instead? thanks


To be 100% honest with you I dont know. I started out last year with my partner and have been learning from him. He suggests dethatching in both spring and fall. From what I have been reading here, I think we will aerate in the spring instead of dethatching unless the laws need it.

[ACutAbovesiny]

do you dethatch every one of your customers lawns, or just the ones that need it? we do not do a ton of dethatching, no. but we will do a nice amount of aerations this fall.


Should I be dethatching in the spring and aerating in the fall??

[DoetschOutdoor]

What you do in the spring and fall will give you results no matter whether you aerate or dethatch. As long as you know what you are doing, use quality products, try and time applications correctly, etc. you will get good results no matter if you do it in the spring or fall. There is no reason that a lawn should have to be dethatched every year. If this is the case then maybe the lawn is being cut too short, not enough, with dull blades, etc. because thatch should not be bad enough to have to power rake every year. Proper care and aeration in the spring and fall will keep you from having to dethatch.
As far as my experience with aerators Ive only used the Ryan and Bluebird aerators and dont really have a preference between the two and I know there are better aerators out there but I always rent and those are my choices around here. I know my dealer has an aerator now with a sulky on it and if I had a few grand lying around that would be my choice.

[turfcobob]

You should only dethatch when it is needed. The dethatching process causes a lot of damage to the plants. Verticutting is actually better. That is using fixed knifes to slice through to the surface. but back to dethatching. If the thatch is more than a half inch thick in your area it should be removed. Less than half inch you can do the lawn more good by aeration. Actually aeration will help on all lawns but remove the thatch first.

[04SIERRA04]

I agree with DoetschOutdoor.

The problem with your question is that the answer will be different for every lawn and even for different portions of the same lawn.

At my cottage the front yard sees more traffic and thus I aerate Spring and Fall. The backyard sees little or no traffic and I only aerate it in the fall. It hasn't happened yet but if I were to continuously let the grass grow too long before mowing, I would be detatching more often too. If you cut no more than 1/3 of the blade of grass with each mowing you will rarely need to detatch.

That's my .02 cents but I've got to warn you, I'm new here, don't run a landscaping or lawn maintainence company and am certainly not an expert!