Got Thatch?

It happens to the best of us. We let the lawn get a little long, there's some overlay after we mow it, despite our best efforts it doesn't all get chopped up and it works it's way to the soil between the live grass shoots. Over time we get a nice layer of dead grass clipping. This is Thatch. To be clear grass clippings mulched back into the lawn after every cut is good! It can cut down your lawn's fertilizer needs by 25%-30%. But this is too much! It is so heavy you can see it is choking out the grass. What do you do?

We bring in a detaching machine and start pulling all the thatch to the surface. With fescue lawns, in most areas it comes up fairly easy. Only occasionally did I have to go over some depressions in the lawn twice. Bermuda and other lawns you may have to go over it more than once!

Once you have a lawn looking like this, it's time to rake it all up and haul it off to the compost pile!

We can now see the dirt between the grass stalks. This will make for healthier happier grass! If you do this in the Spring or Fall, normally I would suggest overseeding to help thicken the lawn up quicker. As it is August now, best to just let the current living grass recover and fill in. If still thin in the fall we can overseed when there is a better chance the new tender grass survives.

Give the lawn a mow, some nice mulch rings around the trees and the yard is looking good! Most of all, it's going to be able to improve now that all that thatch isn't choking it out. If you have a question or need help with your yard in the East Tennessee area, Call, text, or email Two Landscapers!