How & When To Dethatch and Aerate Your Lawn (2024)

FAQs

How & When To Dethatch and Aerate Your Lawn? ›

Aerating your lawn during this time will help it to recover quicker. So, just as with dethatching, aerating for cool-season grasses is best done in early spring or fall. For warm-season grasses, the best time to aerate is late spring through early summer.

The best time to dethatch your lawn is when it's actively growing and the soil is moderately moist. For cool-season grasses, that's early spring or early fall. For warm-season grasses, dethatch in late spring through early summer (after the second mowing). That's when your grass is growing most vigorously.

Specialists recommend aerating your lawn during your grass's growing season, which is why you can aerate at the same time you dethatch your lawn. However, remember to dethatch your lawn first. Follow these steps to aerate your lawn: Thoroughly water your lawn one or two days before you aerate.

The best time to aerate your lawn is in late summer or early fall, as this will allow your grass to recover completely before going dormant in the winter. While Fall is recommended, you can also aerate and overseed your lawn in the spring between March and May.

It should take about 3-4 weeks for the lawn to recover and show signs of new growth.

Determine if Your Lawn Needs Dethatching

Hard soil that's difficult to penetrate with a screwdriver. Cut a small, triangular section of your lawn and examining the thatch layer. If it's more than half an inch thick, it's time to dethatch.

Soil must be moist for ideal results. It's also recommended that you mow the lawn half its normal height right before dethatching.

After dethatching, your lawn may look stressed and thin with dry, dead-looking patches. It's normal and part of the process of keeping your lawn healthy. As long as you take proper measures, you should be able to restore your lawn to its lush and green state.

For established turf with bare or weakened thinning areas, professionals tend to dethatch and overseed at the same time. Dethatching first to remove any matted thatch and then overseed. Doing both allows for the best possible penetration of seed and root establishment to quickly thicken up the turf.

Equipment rental stores often keep power rakes and vertical mowers on hand, especial during dethatching season. Whatever option you choose, finish the job by raking up all the thatch debris and watering your dethatched lawn thoroughly.

Is it better to aerate a wet or dry lawn? ›

Aerating is easiest on you (or your equipment operator) and your lawn when your soil is moist from irrigation or rainfall the day before. Overly dry soil can be tough to aerate, so moisture eases the process. Never aerate overly wet lawns; wait a few days instead.

Prior to aeration and seeding, a lawn should be mowed at a height of 1.5 to 2 inches. Any clippings left on the lawn after this close cut, should be bagged, blown or raked off the lawn. This is necessary to maximize seed to soil contact as the seed is spread. This is a key factor in successful germination.

Dethatchers do not control weeds or poor grass varieties, both of which can remain after dethatching if you leave them behind without first dethatching.

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. You might want to give your lawn a quick check every year just to see how much thatch has accumulated.

If dethatching occurs around the time of your lawn's regular seasonal fertilizing, delay fertilizing until after you have dethatched. Keep recently dethatched lawns well-watered to ensure grass recovers. Watering is especially important if you reseed.

Assuming an average growing grass and average care, you can expect to need to dethatch your lawn once a year or once every two years. Just check the thatch depth when you feel like it may be getting close to time, and if there's more than a half inch of accumulation, spend a weekend working on the lawn.

Detaching removes the thick layer of dead plant material (thatch). This allows air, water, and nutrients to reach your plants and soil again. Dethatching allows your lawn to drain better as well. By learning why dethatching is important, as well as when and how to dethatch, it will be easier to keep your lawn healthy.

For established turf with bare or weakened thinning areas, professionals tend to dethatch and overseed at the same time. Dethatching first to remove any matted thatch and then overseed. Doing both allows for the best possible penetration of seed and root establishment to quickly thicken up the turf.