Thoughts on Thatch

[LwnmwnMan2]

Thatch is a product of mowing. All yards have thatch. The way to tell if you have a thatch problem is to pull core samples (plugs) out of your yard. If you have a 1/2" of thatch or less, it's not a problem. If you have more than 1/2" then you'll want to think about addressing the issue.

If you mow weekly in the spring, don't leave huge clumps of grass behind or bag your grass, you shouldn't have a thatch problem.

If you leave the grass a little long, leave rows or clumps over the lawn each time you mow, or cut the grass extremely short, those will be causes of thatch buildup.

In the spring, many people want to "dethatch" the lawn. They see brown patches in the grass, or what looks to be dead grass in the yard where the green grass is starting to grow.

If you rake your yard in the spring, you'll want to be careful of tearing out good grass. I've seen yards where people have raked every single bit of brown grass out of the yard. They've actually done more damage to the grass by tearing root systems, than by just leaving the yard go.

If you're raking the thatch from the yard, and it's extremely hard work, you're probably raking out good grass as well. Thatch won't be attached to the ground. If you have a big area of matted grass, rake lightly to "fluff" up the grass. The dead grass will easily come to the surface.

If you're in your yard with a steel rock rake, and you leave furloughs in the grass when you are done, that's probably going a bit overboard.

The best time to dethatch is late August, early September. Also the best time to overseed. The main reason is the grass has a chance to get the root system strong again, and you'll cause less damage.

The above is general speak of course. A good healthy yard with a solid base you can be a little harsher on it and you won't notice the difference. A thin yard, lots of shade, poor root structure, you're going to want to baby it along.

Here is an article from the U's Extension service...

Thatch control