Lawn De-Thatchers

[nonofyobiz]

Does anyone own a motorized de-thatcher? I'm wondering if this is a worthwhile purchase. I currently have a tiny yard and no room to store it, but now my moms wants to dethatch and she has a large yard and room to store it so thinking about maybe splitting it with her.

I'm wondering how well they work....I tried the lawn mower with de-thatching blade in the past and it just destroyed my lawn. Will a dethatcher do a better job? or will it do the same as the lawn mower and just strip all the grass off?

[firebane]

Dethatchers work awesome buts not something that needs to be done that often.

Your better off renting one and using it for a day but be warned the amount of grass you can get can be quite staggering if never done.

[MrSector9]

Hire a company to do it, get them to aerate at the same time.

No maintenance needed to equipment, no need to pickup and drop off equipment, no need to work.... BIGGEST part is no need to dispose of old grass.

Rogers Rent All do rent them out at a decent price though and you get a good unit compared to the crappy ones made for consumers.

[Seth1968]

It's GRASS for FFS. It's been around for millions of years.

De-thatching grass is a scam just like furnace duct cleaning.

[MrSector9]

You have no idea what you are talking about.

[firebane]

Originally posted by Seth1968
It's GRASS for FFS. It's been around for millions of years.

De-thatching grass is a scam just like furnace duct cleaning.

Dethatching allows for grass to grow better and more fuller as the dead stuff is pulled away.

If you have ever dethatched a lawn you would know how much dead grass you can get.

[AndyL]

Vertical mowers good - those spiked blades for your lawnmower - bad... ;)

And yeah - rogers rentall - best solution for this stuff

[nonofyobiz]

I thought buying one would be a decent option because i seen them at sears like 3 years ago and i think they were around 300. So it would be a decent investment. I manually rake my front lawn and it's is alot like work! :(

I'll check out the Rogers place.

[Env-Consultant]

Originally posted by AndyL
Vertical mowers good - those spiked blades for your lawnmower - bad... ;)

Do you mean bad for your lawn or bad for your mower? I would argue it's not bad for the lawn at all - granted you have a thick layer of thatch (i.e. it actually needs de-thatching) and you set the blades to the correct height (i.e. you're not scalping your lawn). I just did mine last week using a spiked blade on my mower (actual spikes x 8) - if it's not scalping the lawn, I don't think it would be much harder on the engine/mower than a regular grass cutting.

This is what I used - I was unsure of how it would hold up, but decided I'd give it a shot. Worked great and I could barely tell it was used when I was done.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/power-rake-6-in-1-lawn-mower-blade-19-quot-20-quot-0606105p.html#.U1LMaqhX-uY

[Rat Fink]

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[nonofyobiz]

Originally posted by Rat Fink
Get your hands on one of these rakes. They can be purchased anywhere. Save yourself a lot of money and it doesn't take that long to do it by hand. You'll also have more control in what you are doing than using something motorized. Enjoy the nice weather while you are at it. Now that's participaction!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31oRPhgSk-L.jpg

I have one of those and ....no, no, no, no.
Not fun at all. Lol

Add for the lawn mower de-thatching blade, i tried the one with the nails and like i said it was with too high or too low. Scalping the lawn or not de-thatching at all. Plus it can damage your drive Sherry on the mower. Voids the warranty.

The de thatching rake does a really nice job and is quite a good work out!

[ExtraSlow]

The rake ratfink posted will do a great job, but it is a lot of work.

People obsess over thatch, but really it's normal and natural to have some thatch in a healthy lawn. Most people also cut their lawns too short, and water too much.

[Seth1968]

Originally posted by firebane


Dethatching allows for grass to grow better and more fuller as the dead stuff is pulled away.

If you have ever dethatched a lawn you would know how much dead grass you can get.

I forgot about my last post as I haven't been around for a while, and was intoxicated when I wrote it. Anyway, due to such, I got confused with dethatching and aerating.

I dethatched my front lawn a few days ago (like I do every year), and took out 3 garbage bags full of dead grass and unknown debris (don't ask lol). Both of which would help prevent those pesky light and water nourishments to get grass to grow successfully.

So ya, take the dead stuff out of it, and that's a productive thing. Aerating though?, I'm thinking it's meaningless (and possibly destructive) when all the other lawn care tips are taken into account.

[HomespunLobster]

Aerating is useful if you need it. As in you've got a packed yard. But then you have to find out what the main cause is of having a packed yard and how to get rid of the problem. A once a year aerate isn't going to last all year

[Seth1968]

Originally posted by HomespunLobster
Aerating is useful if you need it. As in you've got a packed yard

Packed by what exactly?

[firebane]

Originally posted by HomespunLobster
Aerating is useful if you need it. As in you've got a packed yard. But then you have to find out what the main cause is of having a packed yard and how to get rid of the problem. A once a year aerate isn't going to last all year

Aerating punches holes in the ground to allow better drainage into the ground.

Depending on the soil that you have in your yard no amount of aerating will help; take clay for a example

[HomespunLobster]

Originally posted by Seth1968


Packed by what exactly?
Type of dirt usually. If there's a lot of traffic through the yard, general rain.
Aerating will help start the process, but you've gotta get thicker grass, a bit of sand, more nutrient soil into the ground to help break up the soil better. I find a power rake does much better than an aerate.
And when I do my yard, I'll aerate first then power rake to get rid of the plugs ;)

[ExtraSlow]

If your soil is too compacted, aerating and top-dressing with sand and possibly a little bit of compost can help, but it'll take years to really change the composition of the soil.

[sputnik]

Go to Lee Valley and buy their Power Rake.

http://www.leevalley.com/en/Garden/page.aspx?p=10029&cat=2,44821&ap=1

It is honestly the best rake you will EVER buy. I dethatch my lawn in the spring and fall and it takes me maybe 2 hours with this rake. It is also WAY lighter than the wooden handled ones posted above.

http://www.connectedrogers.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/PowerRake.jpg

[blitz]

^^Yup, I've got the same one and it's awesome. Dethatched my backyard (50'x36' of grass) in about an hour.

Deadly too, one of the spikes ripped one of my fingernails off last fall :rofl:

[nzwasp]

So the thatch on my grass after the snow has gone kind of looks like little waves all over the backyard (its hard to really convey the picture without a photo) and most of our neighbors have this same pattern on all their front lawns. My thoughts are it was because we had so much snow and it all stuck around for a really long time but my wife's boss said its like that because mice run around under it. Is he smoking crack or is he correct?

[suntan]

It's snow mould. Very common when we have a wet winter like what we just had.

Mice don't really live under the snow. That's voles. You'll have tracks if you have them.

[civic_stylez]

I spent the weekend out with a normal leaf rake just to stand the grass up a bit and air it out before i hit it with the thatch rake. That nasty snow mould was gross. It was nice to see the fresh green grass start poking out. We need a good lawn thread this year.