How to Rid that Lawn of Thatch!

Article by: Kevin Whiteside

You know that brown patchy debris in a lawn , Teak Patio Furniture that accumulates on top of the soil , US Flag Etiquette but below the grass , Caring For Tropical And Exotic Flowers line? That's thatch.

Thatch consist of grass , A Quick Guide To Yard Bridges clippings, grass , Set Yourself Apart: Create Your Own Wind Chime Garden stems, roots, , Choosing the Perfect Landscape Painting and other debris that either decomposes or accumulates on a lawn , Growing A Brush Cherry Bonsai In Your Garden over time.

A few reasons thatch can occur are

1) A lawn , Set Yourself Apart: Create Your Own Wind Chime Garden has never been aerated

2) Cutting high grass , US Flag Etiquette frequently and leaving the clippings on a lawn.

Thatch is not always a bad thing as it can hold moisture , Straw Bale Culture Technique to protect the lawn , Planning a Vegetable Garden from extreme heat , Garden ing the Traditional Way and lack of water. , An Introduction To Palm Trees

Questions to be asked before removing thatch(dethatching)

1) Is there enough thatch on the lawn , Choosing the Perfect Landscape Painting to justify dethatching?

2) If so, what process should I use to dethatch the lawn?

Lawn business owners and homeowners need to measure the amount of thatch in a lawn , You Can Grow Your Own Herb Garden - Part 5 to determine if dethatching needs to be done. I prefer to take a pencil and stick it in the thatch until it touches the ground.Mark the pencil with your fingernail where the thatch comes up to.

After doing this a few times you will be able to eye it and know whether or not to dethatch. The first couple of times you can measure with a ruler.

As a guide, anything over 1/2 inch should be dethatched as this prevents adequete nutrients, air, , Companion Planting and water , Teak Patio Furniture from reaching the soil. Excessive thatch can also encourage pests , Five Key Factors that Affect your Potted Plants in Winter and lawn diseases.

Dethatching can be done in 3 ways depending on the size of the lawn and the amount of thatch accumulated.

1) Aeration- For lawns , Caring For Tropical And Exotic Flowers that have less than an inch of thatch. This is done with an aerator. Always use an aerator that pulls plugs from the ground as opposed to the ones that poke holes.

2) Rake the lawn , Learn All About Feng Shui Money Trees manually- using a leaf rake, garden , Teak Patio Furniture Will Dress Up Your Patio rake, or thatching rake. Raking is fine for small to medium size lawns with thatch less than 1 inch. Raking does take some time, but less stressful on the lawn , How to Read a Seed Catalog than a Power , Reblooming Poinsettia Rake.

3) Power , Do It Yourself Landscape Design - Where To Begin Rake- Also called a Power , Garden Tables Aren't Just Decoration Dethatcher. Use this when there is more than 1 inch of thatch on the lawn. , How to Read a Seed Catalog Power , A Home Garden – Fun for the Whole Family Rakes are a stout piece of equipment that uses an engine like a lawn , Teak Patio Furniture Will Dress Up Your Patio mower to drive vertical blades or tines to cut the surface of the soil. , Patio Design - Add Awnings As A Colorful Finish For Your Patio Design These blades or tines can be adjusted to certain depths.

You can rent either a power , Reblooming Poinsettia rake or an aerator from Home , Gallica Roses Depot or another equipment rental store in your area.

If you decide to dethatch using a power , Soils, the Natural Solution rake mow the lawn , Planning a Vegetable Garden to about half of its regular mowing height.

The blades of the power , 5 Most Popular Flowers for Your Garden rake should be adjusted to cut about 1/2 inch into the soil , How To Make Your Own Moss Landscape Rock and Garden Statues to remove thatch. Always go over the yard twice and change , 5 Most Popular Flowers for Your Garden direction of your paths. , Teak Patio Furniture Will Dress Up Your Patio For example, (long ways and short ways) or (diagonal one way and diagonal the other way).

After dethatching, rake up all the debris and thatch.

If you would like to fertilize or reseed the lawn, , Bonsai Trees For Sale: What Are Your Options? this is a good time as roots , Granite Flexible Preformed Rock Ponds are exposed.

Water when you are finished dethatching.

Since some power , How to Grow Chocolate Cosmos dethatching can make a yard , The Feng Shui of Trees look bad, remember to dethatch when a lawn , Soils, the Natural Solution can recover the best such as right before the prime growing seasons. , November Gardening Tips Different types of grasses , November Gardening Tips have best and worst times to dethatch because the growing seasons , Keep Your Bird Feeders Filled For The Spring Rush vary.

Having a healthy , Colour in the Garden lawn can can definitely improve the look of the landscape , Garden Tables Aren't Just Decoration and the curb appeal.

If you need any questions answered, please ask them at http://www.LawnForum.com so the other members can benefit.

I'm here to help!

Kevin Whiteside is the owner and editor of LawnForum.com Monthly, an online , Garden Heating the Traditional Way newsletter for lawn , Keep Your Bird Feeders Filled For The Spring Rush and landscape , 9-11 Changed Everything for the Garden Tractor Business professionals. Get a FREE subscription here LawnForum@aweber.com

He is also the author of "Turn High Grass , Gardening with Garden Decor Into Cold , November Gardening Tips Cash- How to Start the Ultimate Lawn , Caring For Tropical And Exotic Flowers Service" http://www.grasstocash.com/adtrackz/go.php?c=areathatch

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How to Rid that Lawn of Thatch!

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