Dethatching and Scarifying Lawn - Explanation and Demo

[@drpeemac]

today I cut 400m2 land of 4 feet grass by your technique of line trimmer...omg it work you are such a great teacher took me a while though but results are great ....ref you 10 tricks to use line trimmer Love from Kangaroos here ...!!! Thanks mate

[@dandickerson5879]

Love the video. I enjoy your "matter of fact" type videos on all things grass/mowing/weed control. I'm just north of Nashville, TN in the Clarksville area and my Zoysia is starting to come in. I have a WORX dethatcher (electric) and it does a great job for 4000 sf or smaller. I also bought an Allett reel mower last year with a scarifier attachment. It really set my yard apart from all my neighbors. Hopefully, by the end of March, the Zoysia will come fully out of dormancy. I leveled the yard and height of cut is around .5 inch. During the hot summer growing season, I use the scarifier about once a month. But to keep the half inch cut, I typically mow twice a week.

[@OkcBilly]

Man it’s greening up nice there . Here in Oklahoma burmuda is just now getting alittle green along the edges

[@Casey_Martin]

Great video! I bought a similar one last year and went really aggressive with both the dethatcher and scarifier on a small patch of my bermuda lawn as a test. That was the best area of my lawn all season. The scarifier was helpful mid summer as well when the lawn got too thick from reel mowing several times a week.

[@lawncarelife]

That's good to hear.

[@klarkammerman7096]

I enjoy your videos. They're very helpful and informative. Thanks!

[@martybender8676]

Awesome video just picked up the same machine and I’m gonna give it a shot, but I can probably just get away with detaching. Specially, after seeing what the scarifier did. Thanks for the great video .!!

[@ericcomfort6228]

I have the same machine. I love mine. Works really well

[@RandyRay362]

Thanks brother.. I need this video. And thank you Obi-James!

[@faith4390]

I do believe we need one of those. I'm also looking at ALOT of weeds. It looks overwhelming. I just don't want to use poison in my yard.

[@wilmac247]

Zoysia is the only grass that I have seen that can get bad thatch!! Cavilier and Royal seem to have it the most!

[@SingleStacked]

Not a bad price. Wish they made a plug-cutter version for use on St. Augustine.

[@thenexthobby]

I'd bag that grass if it's sitting on top. It won't decompose in a timely way, and just creates a canopy you won't want. Or if there's too much acreage for bagging, sometimes just mowing again without bagging is enough to loosen it up and let it settle down to the dirt so that it has a better chance to decompose. I've read that detaching grasses with stolens and rhizomes tears up the stolens and rhizomes, as opposed to scarifying which picks them up and lays them back down instead, due to the blades are mostly dealing with dirt, not the surface.

[@TheWalkerjrc]

I have areated the last 4 years. Should I de-thatch this year or do a double pass aeration. I have mostly bermuda and a bit of zoyzia.

[@markchase8128]

I wouldn't call that thatch. You need to pull some core samples to verify properly. You are just power raking the yard at that shallow depth. I have an Earthwise model, works great on the dead tall fescue grass from summer stress. Its an entire weekend of work around Labor day, but the lawn is set to dominate for the fall.

[@rashofbeatings]

i bought one of these in December, i haven't gotten a chance to use it yet. Zoysia lawn

[@MrErpman]

Have you used your dethatcher this last year?

[@rashofbeatings]

@@MrErpman Yes, it did work very well.. i tried both the tines and the verticutter blade. The verticutter blade is the way to go on warm season grasses during the green growing season, at the highest level of the machine. It will scrape the dirt, having a slight leveling effect on uneven spots. collect the loose grass that it pulls up. It will look like s**t immediately after you do it, but hit it with some water a few times, maybe some humic acid or small amount of fertilizer and it will fill in nicely. edit: i'll also add, do small sections at a time and not all in one day, unless you have a lot of energy and time to work on it

[@twosawyers]

I’ve found that the Scarafier is actually less aggressive on the yard than the power rake.

[@perlafarias8889]

What liquid chemical do you recommend to eliminate the moss that is inside the lawn? Thanks...

[@TheAndyMcCraw]

Thanks! So conditions dictate when to dethatch. But is there a good rule of thumb for when to aerate on Bermuda lawns if ever?

[@87JohnJon]

Depends on core aeration or spike/slit aeration. Core aeration is to decompress the soil which can technically be done monthly depending on how bad your soil is. I think you're safe to core aerate before the growing season and right before it goes dormant. Spike and or slit aeration is just to increase water and air into the roots, which can be done almost weekly if you have the time.

[@87JohnJon]

The spring tines are actually the scarifier. The first one was the dethatcher. Dethatcher is to remove the thatch in the soil layer. I scarify once a week really light in the same lines I cut. So many people out there say do not ever scarify bermuda and I was one of those people before I got the advice from allett and man it makes a hell of a difference. The key is don't go to aggressive with it and then clean it up with a cut after you use the scarifier.

[@MrErpman]

You have it reversed. The first one is the acarifier with the heavy blades that scarily the lawn. The tines dethatch.

[@chuckbiller]

I thought dethatch was not recommended for stolons and rhizomes grass types. Not true?

[@MrErpman]

I've been looking for the Rock and Rocker but i think they're out of business. 😢

[@perlafarias8889]

What do you recommend to remove the moss that is inside the lawn?

[@tchall8153]

MossEx

[@everss02]

if u scalp Bermuda short, I never see any thatch

[@nmsauditor1a950]

Scarify is recommended for Bermuda over dethach.

[@kellkelley5743]

You DONT USE A DETHATCHER ON GRASSES WITH RUNNERS. IT WILL RIPPED IT OUT OF THE GROUND. YOU HACE TO USE A SCARIFIER.

[@jerrysatterfield9676]

First one is the dethatcher. Second is a power rack.

[@harpers1niter]

I used a professional machine I rented from Tates. 200lbs, it tore my backyard apart to nothing. I did it in the spring which I have been told only do it in fall. It was a disaster. Now all I have is very little grass and dirt. We have had record snow this winter. I would shovel it all out and throw it over a six foot fence to the HOA side. It's a sea of mud. I will never do it again. A rake is all you need. Running that beast put me out for a week too. I'm an older female and it was a mans job. I have a picture of the machine on my IG.

[@markchase8128]

Yes the dethatcher rentals are heavy, you have to move quick with it or it will rip the place up. These little electric units though are great for getting that summer die off in cool season grasses out right before the fall. Manual raking is too much work if the area is large. The cleanup is still a pain, 20+ bags of yard waste. I have an Earthwise model, it is awesome and light.

[@harpers1niter]

@@markchase8128 As an older female with lots of surgeries it put me down for a week. It's a spongy mess back there. I don't know what to do. Wait I guess.

[@shaunaw7596]

Would have been better going with a sun joe . I did mine in summer so that it would grow fast and repair itself

[@WildOink]

I would say, dont do it when it's wet.