Dethatching my lawn

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Hello friends. I've been watching some videos on dethatching a lawn and I'm discouraged. I have a solid acre of lawn that I'd like to dethatch, but based upon the videos I've seen, it would take me forever to do it, given the methods used. These machines for dethatching look difficult to use and extremely slow. It'll take me all flippin' summer to dethatch my yard. Short of hiring a service company to do it, does anyone have some ideas on how to dethatch an acre without it taking forever?

Thanks.

 

[Marck]

This is a question of having the right equipment. With a good quality dethatcher, an acre of lawn can be dethatched in a day. If you want to do it yourself, perhaps you could find a way to rent one. Yes, it would take some practice and training to operate one correctly, but it isn't that difficult. Still, from what you say, perhaps hiring a professional is the best route.

Going back a step, we might ask does your lawn need dethatching? Judging a lawn in winter may make thatch seem more of a problem thn it is. Warm weather will speed up deocmposition in oyur lawn. Adding a thin layer of compost mulch might be a good alternative to dethatching.

 

[Black_Thumb]

This is a question of having the right equipment. With a good quality dethatcher, an acre of lawn can be dethatched in a day. If you want to do it yourself, perhaps you could find a way to rent one. Yes, it would take some practice and training to operate one correctly, but it isn't that difficult. Still, from what you say, perhaps hiring a professional is the best route.

Going back a step, we might ask does your lawn need dethatching? Judging a lawn in winter may make thatch seem more of a problem thn it is. Warm weather will speed up deocmposition in oyur lawn. Adding a thin layer of compost mulch might be a good alternative to dethatching.

Thanks, Marck. We have only lived here in Tennessee for three months and honestly, I'm not sure what the spring and summer months will do where my lawn is concerned. It does look a bit on the nasty side at the moment though. I'll post a couple pictures after I go outside and take a few photos. I have noticed that my lawn seems to have a number of different types of grass and/or weeds in the mix. My understanding is that I'd have to drop quite a bit of money to get it up to golf course quality, which is what I really like in a lawn.

I have some species of grass that is tough as friggin' rope and threads all over the place. I think it might be Bermuda grass but I'm no expert on grass. I hate that stuff and it seems impossible to kill. I'm not sure if dethatching would do anything about that though.

Anyway, I'll go snap some photos and be back shortly.

 

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Here are some photos of various parts of my yard, including a mostly full view of just the front yard.

 

[Chuck]

All of that uncomposted thatch is future lawn food, i.e. fertilizer. Using carbohydrates such as molasses speeds up the decomposition of thatch by increasing the numbers of soil microbes who actually decompose the thatch. Mix 2 oz per gallon of water and spray it on. It will take at least a year but is probably the easiest and cheapest way to get rid of it. By mowing regularly and not letting the grass get high is also important with a thatch problem.

 

[Marck]

A lawn in Tennessee in early March will not be anything like it will be in Summer. l would consider living with your current lawn for a year before trying to replace it with something else.

A golf course lawn is a semi-mythical thing, a lot of golf course don't always look that green and lush. Still, having anything close to a perfectly green monocultural (single species) lawn will take a lot of money, labor, chemicals, and water. Does your lawn have an irrigation system? Even in Tennessee there are droughts and dry spells. The money isn't just in installation, but in continuous ongoing maintenance.

The photos came in while I was writing this, but it was something like I what I imagined. Try to understand this lawn before you decide it needs to be replaced. On an acre of sloping, variously shaded ground conditions will change. Don't expect that one species will be best adapted to all parts of your lawn. A multi-species approach makes a lot of sense. I see a variety of low herbs that add color to a winter lawn, including some Ground-ivy (Glechoma hederacea) and Clover (Trifolium sp.). Clovers fix Nitrogen, that's a good thing. I see moss growing in a shady spot beside the house. It will be an uphill battle to get lawn growing there.

 

[Black_Thumb]

A lawn in Tennessee in early March will not be anything like it will be in Summer. l would consider living with your current lawn for a year before trying to replace it with something else.

A golf course lawn is a semi-mythical thing, a lot of golf course don't always look that green and lush. Still, having anything close to a perfectly green monocultural (single species) lawn will take a lot of money, labor, chemicals, and water. Does your lawn have an irrigation system? Even in Tennessee there are droughts and dry spells. The money isn't just in installation, but in continuous ongoing maintenance.

The photos came in while I was writing this, but it was something like I what I imagined. Try to understand this lawn before you decide it needs to be replaced. On an acre of sloping, variously shaded ground conditions will change. Don't expect that one species will be best adapted to all parts of your lawn. A multi-species approach makes a lot of sense. I see a variety of low herbs that add color to a winter lawn, including some Ground-ivy (Glechoma hederacea) and Clover (Trifolium sp.). Clovers fix Nitrogen, that's a good thing. I see moss growing in a shady spot beside the house. It will be an uphill battle to get lawn growing there.

Great information, Marck! I will definitely let it do its thing this year and see how it pans out. As for the moss, I think we're going to be doing some landscaping over there because of the heat pump right in that area so the moss may end up being taken out. We just haven't decided how we're going to do the landscaping yet.

I say that I like golf course lawns kind of tongue-in-cheek. Although they do look phenomenal, I don't have the time it would take to make that happen but I do enjoy a lush green yard. I lived in the desert of California up until four months ago. My yard out there was astroturf and was gorgeous but it was fake. Summer temps were well-over 100 degrees in the summer and fall and it was impossible to stand on unless you wore something on your feet or you'd have first (and maybe even second) degree burns. The turf actually got that hot. So, when we got here and bought our home, it came with a lot of soft grass but some problem areas that I'd like to fix. I'm guessing that it'll cost at least $1,000 in fertilizer and such and I'm sure I'll need guidance on that since I'm no expert by any stretch. My friend's dad used 10-10-10 fertilizer and his lawn was immaculate and beautiful. That was in Minnesota. Not sure what's best here.

Thanks again for the great information!