[ToddH]

It seems whatever I do, I can't get rid of dead grass blades in my lawn and they never seem to decompose. Dethatching only seems to get rid of about half the dead blades - going over it twice.

Here's a before and after dethatching.

Before
View attachment 514824

After
View attachment 514826

The lawn looks OK from a distance, but up close you see lots of dead blades and thin grass that I want to thicken.

I fertilize on a regular basis and these photos are during the wet spring we've had. I'm in the northern Idaho climate.

View attachment 514830

Even I look good at a distance. If the clippings are not decomposing that indicates very little biological activity is needed to break the clippings down. Might try a quality bio-stimulant, or organic fertilizer to build that rhizosphere back to active. Too much Nitrogen can actually reduce the biological activity since the plants don't need the microbes.