Dethatching Your Lawn Using a Power Rake
Using A Power Rake On Your Lawn
When you have a lot of dead plant material piling up on your lawn, a power rake is an excellent way to remove that excess debris. A power rake can be used to remove dead leaf pile up in the fall or grass trimmings after you have cut the grass and trimmed the weeds. That type of heavy thatch is not good for the lawn because it can actually choke the grass by cutting it off from nutrients and water. If you use a weed killer or insect killer on your lawn, then it might not be reaching the insects or weeds because the build up creates a barrier between the chemicals and the weeds and insects.
Click Here for Prices and Reviews of the Model Shown
With the build up, it is also common to notice an increase in runoff from watering as well. Using a power rake, which is also sometimes referred to as a lawn dethatcher, is beneficial for your lawn because it helps to improve the nutrient flow and the water flow to grass and plants in the lawn. Dethatching your lawn also helps to promote the growth of new grass since it offers better access to water and nutrients.
When To Dethatch Your Lawn
When you start to notice a thatch layer, you might be ready to pull out the lawn thatcher from the shed to get busy thatching the lawn. Not all layers of thatch are a bad thing. In fact, a healthy layer should not be removed by a power dethatcher because it actually offers some benefits. As long as the thatch is under three-quarters of an inch in height, it is reducing heat stress on the lawn and protecting the soil from erosion. But when it gets higher than that, you should get your power rake dethatcher ready to remove some thatch.
It is best to use power rakes when the soil in dry instead of wet. With wet soil, the lawn tool runs the risk of pulling up live plants that you want to actually keep in the ground. Since there is generally more moisture present in the spring, it is usually better to use your lawn dethatcher in the fall. However, spring ranks second for the best time of year for thatching a lawn. You should also avoid dethatching your lawn in the summer because of the heat stress on the grass. Since the power rake can bruise the live plants, the heat stress can make it harder for the live plants to recover from those bruises. The end result is that you can actually end up killing the plants without meaning to do so.
Other instances when you might be ready to bring out the power rakes are when you are preparing for seeding or aeration. Dethatching before you aerate the lawn makes the process more effective. The same is true when preparing for the growing season. It can be difficult for seeds to sprout and grow strong when there is a layer of dead plant debris on the ground.
*Please note the link above directs to amazon as I have found they offer great deals on power rakes.
Posts related to Dethatching Your Lawn Using a Power Rake
If your lawn does not look as nice as you would like for it to look, the problem might be in how you are removing the dead plant debris that comes from grass trimmings and ...
If you are looking for ways to improve the soil on your lawn, then you might want to consider aeration or dethatching your lawn. When you aerate the lawn, the process involves having holes punched ...
Are you tired of always having the only unhealthy, crunchy lawn in the neighborhood? Who doesn't want to be the envy of the neighborhood with green, lush grass. If you are wondering just how to ...
Have you ever looked out your window only to see a sea of yellow dandelions? While my kids love to pick these 'flowers' for their mommy, I personally hate them growing in my grass. I ...
I don't know about where you may live but here in London we have a city that is essentially built on top of mud and clay. I'm really not joking. The place is one giant ...
