To De-Thatch or Aerate, that is the question!

Early in the spring, after a light raking, what was once a lush lawn may appear worn and matted.  You might blame it on bugs.  Or you may think, “..it’s a disease,” or “..I didn’t water it enough.” You may say to yourself with regret, “I should have fertilized with Greenview Weed & Feed products last fall.”

First of all, don’t worry about feeding and fertilizing.  You still have plenty of time to use our Greenview Fairway Formula Spring Fertilizer 26-4-12. Our home delivery service and annual lawn plan will ensure you receive your fertilizer and weed control products on time.  However, let’s not jump to conclusions yet.  This early, a knee-jerk reaction to your damaged lawn might cause you to overlook the real culprits: thatch and soil compaction.

What is thatch?  Thatch consists of pieces of stems, roots, and debris that are slow to decay because they have high cellulose content.  They build up in a layer between the grass blades and the soil surface. Water can’t penetrate the soil surface and reach the roots.  So you see patches of dead grass or thin areas where you dreamed of a thick green carpet.   Moderate thatch is not necessarily a bad thing because it can make turf more tolerant to foot traffic, but too much thatch means trouble.

What is soil compaction? When the top 4 inches of the soil become compressed, air, water and nutrients can’t move around to the grass roots. As a result, your grass becomes stressed, and without help, (see our weed control products), stressed grass can lose the battle against weeds. Soil is usually compacted in high traffic areas, like children’s playgrounds and walkways, but it can also be caused by excessive moisture and it can occur in soils with high levels of sodium ions left behind by irrigation.  Most important to your lawn, soil compaction can cause—you guessed it—excessive thatching! Aeration is required to loosen the soil and let the air and nutrients in.

So what’s a homeowner to do?  De-thatch or aerate?

Where thatch is widespread, to prevent a reoccurrence of the problem, de-thatching isn’t enough.   You must also aerate the soil.  For proper and thorough lawn maintenance, it’s a matter of….how low do you go?  De-thatching is like scratching the surface of the problem.  You can remove the thatch, but if soil compaction is the cause, then you must go deeper to solve the problem.  For smaller areas, you may be able to use a spading fork or sod-coring tool, or those cool-looking aerator sandals, but for larger lawns, you probably want to rent a vertical mower, core aerifier, or power rake.

Need a quick way to figure out if your soil is compacted?  Poke it. A sharp blunt object like a screwdriver will do.  If it sinks in easily wherever you poke, great!  Your soil is probably well aerated—a de-thatching may be all that’s needed prior to treating your lawn with the right fertilizer at the right time.  But, if you can’t penetrate the soil, compaction may be in action!  

Aeration removes cores of soil, leaving holes in the lawn. So be prepared…it’s not pretty at first, but your lawn will thank you later with a lush, rich, thick, more vibrant sea of green turf that you can be proud of once again!

Submitted by J. Weinmann