Lawn aeration keeps lawns healthy

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Dethatching or 'Thatching'

Following season after season of high nitrogen lawn fertilization, most lawns develop a thatch layer. Up to 1/2-inch thickness of thatch is considered OK, maybe even good. But once thatch exceeds 1/2-inch in depth, problems begin with dead spots.
  
Some grass varieties, such as rhizome producing bluegrass, tend to create thatch faster due to their growth habit. On the other hand, lawns with red fescue are slow to build thatch, but that thatch is very resistant to decay, creating a problem more slowly but one that is just as severe.
      
You ask about mulching clippings? Mulching mowers rarely contribute to thatch in normal situations, at least ones where a heavy thatch layer doesn't already exist. However, it would be a good idea to to bag clippings if you already have thick thatch. Clippings breakdown best where they can make contact with the soil.


  

Thatch prevention beats 'The Cure'

There are several measures which can be practiced annually, to prevent problems with thatch. These procedures are best performed when turf is actively growing, preferably in the early fall -- September in Pennsylvania --

  • Aeration should be done at least once annually (preferably twice -- spring and fall). Core aerification involves "pulling plugs" from the lawn with a hollow-spoon aerator and leaving them on the lawn surface to breakdown.
  • As thatch layers get thicker than 1/2-inch, begin "thatching" every year, with a mechanical dethatching machine, which removes dead debris from the lawn surface. Some machines have spring tines or flails, while others have vertical blades (known as vertical mowers or verticutters).
  • Maintain proper soil pH by testing your soil every 5 years. Follow soil test recommendations. Attention to this detail will encourage thatch to breakdown naturally.
      

Thick thatch layer
This thatch layer made good cover
for destructive grubs

We've seen some real problem lawns with thatch levels exceeding 1-inch thick, and usually recommend stripping the lawn off completely with a sod-cutter, in order to start a brand new lawn from bare soil.  Reason: At this thickness, it would take years to effectively reduce thatch thickness to a manageable level.
  
We also recommend seeding your new lawn with improved varieties of turfgrass to take full advantage of the advances in turf seed development. These will be the more costly varieties that are "named" (read the seed label).

Aeration helps control thatch

Liming helps break down thatch

 

  


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