Photo courtesy of Dan4th at Flickr.com.
When you mow your lawn, it makes sense to leave the clippings in place, since they feed your lawn as they decompose. However, this can become a problem if your mower doesn’t automatically mulch the clippings, if you wait too long between mowings, or if you don’t aerate regularly. You may end up with thatch—a layer of built-up grass clippings, roots, stems, and debris located right above the soil, and just below the grass line.
A half-inch or less of thatch can be beneficial for your lawn, because it can help retain moisture during dry periods, and act as insulation from the sun. However, too much thatch is just asking for trouble: it prevents air, water, and nutrients from reaching the soil effectively, and worse, it’s an excellent habitat for fungi and lawn-destroying insects like chinch bugs.
It’s easy to measure how much thatch your lawn has: just slide a thin screwdriver or piece of wire through it until it reaches the soil, and measure the thickness revealed with a tape measure or ruler. Anything between half an inch and an inch is an indicator that you should start thinking about dethatching, while anything over an inch is cause for alarm.
The best time to dethatch is during late spring or early fall, when it’s not too cool, too warm, or too dry, and your lawn has time to recover from the treatment. If you want to get physical with it, you can rent a dethatching machine or get your hands on a special dethatching rake (a garden rake can be used, but it’s not the best tool).
If your thatch situation isn’t too bad, you can attack it with a liquid thatch remover. It’s easy to use—you just attach the container to your water hose and spray it directly on the lawn. If you apply it in the spring, the thatch layer will break down over the course of the mowing season.
Check out this Brill Razorcut push reel mower and grass catcher! The grass catcher prevents the grass clippings from becoming thatch!
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