I want to start off by letting you all know that here at Erbert Lawns we do not offer power raking, and I will get to the why here shortly.

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Power raking is often used to dethatch lawns after winter. So that raises another question, what is thatch? Thatch is a layer between the soil and grass shoots that is composed of leaves and dead grass.

There is an amount of thatch that is healthy for your lawn, about half an inch to three quarters of an inch. This amount of thatch helps shield the roots and soil from the heat of the sun. It also benefits your lawn by slowing down the loss of water, cushioning the soil and making it less compacted, and it helps your lawn be able to tolerate more animal and human play time.

In the event that the thatch layer exceeds the healthy amount, more than three quarters of an inch, that is when you may have some problems. When too thick, thatch can prevent water, fertilizer, and disease control treatments from getting to the roots. It can also prevent sun from getting to the lower part of the blade or it may hold on to too much moisture and causes grass disease.

So what causes thatch?
Various things can cause thatch. To name a few, overfertilizing, overwatering, not trimming the blades of grass enough, and clay soil.

Now that you know the in’s and out’s of thatch you are probably wondering why we don’t do power raking right? Well the simple reason is that it can destroy lawns. Just like you don’t want too much thatch, you also don’t want too little. Power raking can not only pull away too much of the thatch, it can also rip out some of the healthy grass too since the machine pulls through the lawn at a fast speed. Here are Erbert Lawns we want to show your lawn the love and attention that its needs, we don’t want to potentially destroy it! We recommend aerating instead. Aerations give your lawn and root system channels that allow them to breathe and suck up nutrients in an efficient way. Call us to schedule one today!