Is A Power Rake And A Dethatcher The Same Thing
A power rake is basically similar to a dethatcher, but the two remove thatch in and debris in different ways. Both power raking and dethatching fix the same problem in the lawn thatch and debris.
- Take a thatch sample and if theres more than half an inch of spongy, dead organic matter at the top, go ahead and dethatch using a dethatcher.
- If your lawn has a visible thick layer of dead grass or debris, use a power rake to remove it and allow fertilizer and other treatments to penetrate effectively.
- Dethatchers are suitable for less than half an inch of thatch while power rakes are suitable for more than half an inch of thatch.
Thatch buildup starts as dead grass, stolons, and grass clippings failing to decompose at a good rate. At an early stage, it will just be dead matter lying on top of the soil, which you can fix by power raking.
As time goes by and if decomposition takes place but at a slower rate, the dead matter forms thatch. This thatch can be a little too much and can form a barrier on the lawns surface.
When you have more than an inch of thatch buildup in your lawn, your grass will start to look unhealthy because of the poor supply of nutrients, water, and oxygen.
That is where you want to use a dethatcher to break down the thick layer of decomposing organic matter and overseed the lawn to make it thick and full.
When To Use A Dethatcher
Dethatching is best done early in spring or during fall. It is a great practice before starting your spring fertilizer and maintenance program. You can also dethatch to loosen up soil when you want to overseed or the lawn.
Scotts recommends as follows:
The best time of year for dethatching is the same as for aerating: early spring or early fall for cool-season grasses, and late spring through early summer for warm-season grasses.
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Our Mowing Service includes trimming around sidewalks, fences, trees, and any reasonable part of a lawn that cant be reached by a lawn mower with a string trimmer/weed eater at no additional cost, preferring to stay within the border of the lawn. Anything outside the border of the lawn such as rock or mulch areas we dont like to trim to avoid any debris being picked up by the trimmer and causing damage. Excessive uncontrolled grass or weeds that border outside the lawn can be trimmed but would be at an additional cost.
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What Is Dethatching A Lawn
Like power raking, dethatching is a process of removing thatch or that layer of dead grass and debris from the lawn. This layer usually blocks fertilizer from penetrating into the soil. It also prevents air transfer and the penetration of sunlight.
Dethatching is done using a dethatching machine, also called a dethatcher. It can be gas-powered, gas-powered, or manual.
You can dethatch your lawn using a thatch rake especially if it is small with just a little layer of thatch on top of the soil.
- Hard raking removes thatch and is great for overseeding.
- An electric dethatcher is great for a large lawn and where you need to remove a relatively thick layer of thatch without damaging the lawn.
- Pull behind dethatchers are also great for small yards but can be a workout if the layer of debris is too thick.
Proper Maintenance Is The Key To Keeping Your Yard Healthy And Beautiful
At Intermountain Lawns we are dedicated to quality in our workmanship. Proper maintenance is the key to keeping your yard healthy and beautiful. Our Weekly or Every 2 Week mowing and trimming service will keep your lawn looking great while you enjoy more time with your family & loved-ones. We cut at a recommended 3 -4 height, but every lawn and customer is different. We keep records of the height you want the lawn and tailor our services to fit your needs. We also recommend dropping or mulching the clippings back into the lawn to recycle them, especially if youre on a weekly schedule and only cutting about 1/3 of an inch at a time. The clippings release nitrogen back into your lawn which acts as natural fertilizer, but some prefer the clippings to be bagged. So, in addition to mowing & trimming, if bagging is preferred, our service also includes bagging the clippings and hauling them away. Finally, we blow any excess of sidewalks & driveways like we werent even there! Simple, easy, inexpensive, and convenient for you. Just add water and leave the rest to us!
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Make Sure To Water Properly For The Best Results
It is really important to make sure that once the overseeded grass is watered, it remains moist during germination. Be careful not to overwater or the seeds will drown. Depending on the time of year, you may need to water 2-4 times a day in short-duration-bursts to keep from overwatering and washing the seed away. If a seed is left to dry out after it has taken up water, it will not survive.
Diy Or Call In A Lawn Care Pro
If slicing up that turf youve worked so hard on makes you more than a little nervous, its best to leave it in the hands of a professional lawn care service.
But if you can handle a walk-behind mower, you can handle a dethatching machine, Callahan said.
And a dethatching machine is the way to go. A simple leaf rake wont do the trick. Dethatching an entire lawn by hand is a horrendous job and not effective, Callahan said. He recommends renting equipment to save yourself plenty of time and sore muscles. Its not a highly technical process either, he added.
There is one valuable advantage of a professional lawn service, though. Thats the effectiveness of a practiced hand and expensive equipment afforded by an economy of scale.
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What If It Is Not The Right Time Of Year For A Power Rake
There are other services that you can do for your lawn if we are outside the power raking window. Other professional lawn care services that will help increase microbial activity and reduce thatch problems include: Double Aeration, sprinkler audit, adjustment in lawn care cultural practices , and a Humate application. A lawn de-thatching service is rarely necessary and only recommended in severe cases.
The Best Time To Power Rake Lawns
21 September, 2017
Too much accumulated dead material, thatch, that accumulates on your lawn can deprive the grass of air and make it susceptible to disease and insects. Power raking uses a special mower with vertical teeth set on a horizontal roller to remove debris. The best time to power rake depends on several factors, including the weather, the amount of accumulated thatch, and the type of grass in your lawn.
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What Is Power Raking A Lawn
Power raking addresses a much more superficial problem in the lawn. Most homeowners power-rake in spring and also in the fall when they want to overseed their lawns.
The process of power raking removes a thick layer of dead grass matter or debris sitting right on top of the soil in your lawn. This layer prevents your lawn from breathing properly.
How Often To Dethatch A Lawn
Dethatch your lawn only once a year or when theres more than half an inch of thatch on there. Theres no need to dethatch too often since some of that organic matter decomposes into nutrients that feed your grass.
You may want to consider the problem causing too much thatch in your lawn. Fungal infections can lead to dead patches that end up as thatch. Grubs too can eat the roots of your grass, killing it in patches and forming dead grass.
All these can be solved with treatments such as grub control pesticides and antifungal treatments.
Remember too much thatch is usually a sign of using too many chemicals to grow the grass. Consider going organic to prevent the need for a power rake or a dethatcher too often.
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Why Do I Have Excess Thatch In My Lawn
Thatch accumulation is a symptom of a problem and that problem is the absence of microbial activity or a dead soil.Thatch will accumulate if the production of dead material exceeds the ability of the beneficial microorganisms to break down the organic matter into elemental components. Thatch build-up increases when there is an absence of beneficial microbial activity.
Dead soils lack microbial activity and these microbes eat and decompose thatch. Dead soils can occur if there is poor soil aeration and drainage, improper watering practices, cold temperatures, the use of some pesticides, and the use of fast release chemical fertilizers. We most often see an excessive thatch layer accumulate in a lawn when the sprinkler system is set to water on a daily basis. After corrections are made to the lawn watering and organic fertilization applications are performed the lawn will often look worse before it looks better. This is because the grass roots are very shallow and are often only growing in the thatch layer instead of the soil. When the watering is corrected the grass may look dry until the roots begin growing into the soil instead of the thatch layer.
Early Spring Dethatching In Snow Country Is A Bad Idea
In colder climates it has become a common ritual to dethatch as soon as the snow melts. People seem to want to get outside and do something, but dethatching at this time of year is a terrible idea. Most cool-season grass does not need to be dethatched, in which case you are just damaging the lawn. Secondly, the ground is still very wet in early spring. Walking on it compacts the soil, damaging soil structure, which makes it harder for your grass to grow. Stay off the lawn in spring.
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Why Should I Power Rake In Colorado Springs
Thatch is the layer of decomposing debris that naturally accumulates over time. It can be found on top of the soil below the grass line in your lawn. A certain amount of thatch is normal and is not detrimental to maintaining lawn health some thatch can even help with resiliency in high traffic areas. BUT once the thatch becomes more prevalent it can cause problems. An excess of thatch in your lawn will cause it to shed water, thus restricting the absorption of water and nutrients into the soil and resulting in an increased susceptibility to fungi, insects and drought.
When thatch dries out, it can become really difficult to rewet. Dry thatch becomes a barrier to water and fertilizers causing the turf grass to become dry and stressed. In Colorado Springs, the predominant insect problem with mites. Mites really love drought stressed lawns and dry thatch becomes a great hiding place for them to multiply and feast on your thatch and your lawn.
While the main problem with excess thatch is over drying, in some cases where drainage is impeded, thatch can actually prevent evaporation and retain moisture. Once the weather starts to warm up and you start fertilizing your lawn, that moist, warm and nutrient rich environment is perfect for fungal growth.
When Should I Dethatch My Lawn In Colorado
grassdethatchedtotoshouldgrass
. Likewise, people ask, when should you Dethatch a lawn?
The lawn should be dethatched when it is actively growing and the soil is moderately moist. The best time of year for dethatching is the same as for aerating: early spring or early fall for cool-season grasses, and late spring through early summer for warm-season grasses.
Additionally, when should I overseed my lawn in Colorado? For Colorado’s climate, the best time to overseed is in April or September. During these times, temperatures are cooler and moisture can be more abundant. This results in better germination and improved vigor of the newly germinated seedling.
Additionally, is dethatching a lawn necessary?
In the north, late summer or early fall before the grass goes dormant are good times to dethatch, and late spring in the south. For small areas, you can use a hand dethatching rake. Thatch builds up over time, so it’s not necessary to dethatch every year. Plan on doing it every five years or so if your lawn needs it.
Is it better to dethatch or aerate?
Thatching is sometimes called dethatching. It removes a dead layer of roots and stems that is found between the grass base and the native soil. This is more stressful to your lawn than aerating is, and is generally only done if your lawn is thinning out due to thick thatch, according to Organic Lawn DIY.
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Power Rake Vs Dethatcher Differences
- Robust 10 Amp motor, ergonomic, padded grip and adjustable handle for user comfort
- 14 inch dethatching path gets your work done faster
- 3-position tine depth adjustment provides greater control by removing matted layers to promote lawn health
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Both power raking and dethatching aim at removing excess thatch in the lawn. A power rake is good for getting rid of the thick layer of debris lying on top of the soil while a dethatcher is good for removing a thin layer of decomposing organic matter that forms the topmost part of the soil in the lawn.
Power raking is a more aggressive process of removing thatch and dead matter in the lawn while dethatching is a light process that removes just a thin layer of debris that makes fertilizer absorption poor.
A dethatcher is usually spring tines that rotate and dislodge the layer of thatch and dead matter on the lawn while a power rake is usually mechanical with a dethatching blade that has rotating flails. The flails aggressively dig up thick layers of thatch from the lawn.
A dethatcher is a small machine that looks almost like push lawnmowers. Some come as extensions that you can attach to a lawn mower. On the other hand, a power rake is a heavy-duty machine that removes large amounts of thatch from a lawn.
Pro tip: A power rake can be very unforgiving on your lawn. Try to do it early to allow your lawn to heal before going dormant.
What Is Power Raking
Power raking is a process for removing excess thatch from your lawn. Power raking in Colorado Springs is great a way to remove the dead debris and crust that builds up on a lawn over winter. It is also a gentle way to remove thatch from the lawn without causing the significant damage that dethatching can cause.
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Signs That It Is Time To Overseed Your Colorado Lawn
Overseeding has a number of benefits that result in a healthier lawn. A healthy and dense lawn can lead to less weeds. Also, by using a blend of disease-resistant grass seed varieties, you can work to prevent disease in the future. Youll want to consider overseeding if the lawn:
- is high-use and showing signs of wear and tear from kids and pets
- has bare or dead spots
- is thinning, patchy, or dull in color
- has a weed problem
NOTE: DO NOT overseed your lawn if you have applied a pre-emergent weed killer to it. This will prevent your grass seeds from germinating.
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How To Use A Power Rake
A thin layer of debris is healthy especially if there are enough microorganisms breaking it down. However, if theres too much of it, you might want to get rid of it.
Heres how to use a power rake on your lawn:
If there are some spots that were not power-raked properly, use a thatch rake to clear up the the debris.
Pro tip: Lowering the deck of your power rake one notch at a time is a great way to prevent scalping your lawn or even removing the live grass in the thin lawn youre already trying to restore. You dont want to rip up the lawn when power raking it. Follow up the process with a lawn restoration fertilizer or a starter 10-10-10 fertilizer for overseeding.
Heres a great video on power raking done by Pest and Lawn Ginja on YouTube.
Cleaning Up Reseeding After Dethatching
Whether you do it yourself or hire a professional, its a disruptive process to say the least, and your lawn is going to need a Band-Aid and some time to heal.
The first thing to do after dethatching is to remove the piles of thatch from your yard.
After dethatching, seed the lawn and consider topdressing. If youve taken plugs of soil, that soil can be left as a topdressing. But the planty thatch material should be removed.
Topdressing, he said, could give the existing root system a boost. It can also be a form of weed control, filling those gaps before weeds have a chance to take hold.
Within a month, you should see some results, Callahan said, depending on the weather.
Hot, dry weather could slow it down, but nice weather will get that new grass coming up uniform and vigorous in about a week, he said. In no time, it will look like a new lawn.
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