How To DETHATCH And FIX Your LAWN

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

Want To Learn More About Cool Season Lawns? - ryanknorrlawncare.com/product/the-ultimate-guide-to-cool-season-lawns/

[@perk2204]

sure you get asked this CONSTANTLY, but where is the best place to look in order to get info on gow to do a start up lawn.

[@Lawnvolution]

Want to have a Ryann Knorr Lawn? Check out his ultimate Guide😎👊

[@perk2204]

@@Lawnvolution thanks george. will do.

[@duba]

Can I buy the 32oz soil loosener and buy the hose end attachments to use with that? I need the hose end attachments that fit on the bottle but I don’t need the bundle box, can I buy them separately?

[@TheMagicIMan]

Easily one of the best instructional channels

[@pault477]

My lawn is awesome here is WI because of your tips! Thanks - people are amazed at the lushness.

[@artofbass6179]

I dont even have a lawn but I still watch 😂

[@karenmancina9517]

😂

[@AdamJames.]

I have a lawn but no grass.

[@csqr]

The Greenworks machine is fantastic, I just used it yesterday for my ~ 5000 sq ft lawn. Highly recommended. Going to overseed now.

[@lushlawns8904]

Crazy spring here in New England too. 50-60s in early March then a cold April and May has no clue from 30° and snow one day to 50s with hail two days later. The grass is going up slowly. Hope you guys have a good season.

[@danield.4569]

You can use a dethatcher rake for larger lawns, but as Ryan said it’s a workout, exhausting and you need to do small sections. I noticed when exhaustion kicked it, I started speeding up/skipping sections (not on purpose), which ended up causing me to go back over sections the next day. Advice, do 25-50 sqft sections at a time. I’ll be purchasing a “Greenworks” next season!

[@freethinker3161]

I'll never probably go away from having a tall lawn because I love it, but it's unbelievable what that machines can do. The Swardmans amazing. I'm so impressed by all the different jobs I can do. All the best bro.

[@tpicazo]

What do you mean by tall lawn? Mine is about 6-7” tall, how often do you dethatch it, I’m fairly new to lawn care, south Texas Bermuda grass. Currently about 95-105 degree weather.

[@aaronburford5701]

Great channel and content! Thanks for sharing!

[@jayq6767]

Here in McHenry county, Illinois, we have had days in the 60's that warmed the soil to 55s then nights in upper 30s. I Have put down a PreM then fertilizer. I have big dandelion plants growing, 4 inches of rain one weekend over 3 Days. Today is rainy and I hit the lawn with a liquid bio stimulant package taking advantage of the rain. It's been pretty confusing weather. As of now it's 39° where I am. Thanks Ryan, I'll have to do this in the fall before aeration and overseeding. Still learning

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

It is cold here too and the lawn is very confused

[@philipramsden4975]

I dethatched my 6000 sq ft front yard with the rake last fall before overseeding with TTTF. Took me 5 days and my neighbors probably thought I was out of my mind. It definitely helps cutting it short. My lawn looks so much better than last year. I plan on doing it again this fall and throwing down more tall fescue so there's less thatch going forward

[@Katyusha94]

I use a dethatching rake to do my property, and 4 neighbors. Each average-sized lawn front and back take between an hour or 2. Really gets the blood flowing

[@xX1GuNNy1Xx]

dethatching might be the most satisfying thing to watch get done to a lawn.

[@RichardGardnerUK]

I just discovered thatching after four years of my lawn getting progressively worst after moving into a newly built home. I'm not sure what to do now, my lawn has probably a good inch of thatch. I had no idea it was a bad thing, I thought it would keep the moisture in. Live and learn, I'm probably going to spend the rest of the year trying to get my lawn to recover from my lack of knowledge. May be next year I can aim to have a good lawn.

[@patrykmakar6181]

Hi Ryan, thanks for all your videos, you're a massive source of all my garden works. I recently got into new house which had a back yard in very bad condition. I bought a lot of machinery to get it sorted (even mowing really overgrown mix of grass, weeds and everything else that was possible to be there was a big challenge). I got to the point where I detached it very heavy to the point that I barely see any dead grass leftovers, it's mostly soil, then I aerated the very compacted ground. Then I ordered a few tonnes of topsoil and levelawn tools to make it nice and even but I got a bit unsure if it's ready for the next step. Under the soil there is still the old grass root system or whats left from it. Detacher wouldn't have pulled anything up anymore, hence I thought its ready but if I use shovel, I could still literally cut slices out... I have seen on your old videos you had leftovers as well when you started seeding but I am a bit concerned in my case? What do you think? Should I just ignore it or maybe use tiller or another machine there?

[@ericjaramillo748]

Ryan Knorr, placed an order after watching your liquid aerator video only to receive my package today from Amazon which was a blue and white bubble mailer, which unfortunately had absolutely NOTHING in it. I thought I'd be receiving a great product only to be let down by poor shipping. Not poor shipping because I did receive something, just didn't know I paid for air in a bubble mailer. I tried calling simple solutions and left a message hoping to hear from them soon. I ain't bashing the product itself just wish I would've received it to give my full review of it

[@Lawnvolution]

I did this two weeks ago. I stressed the grass out. 11 paper lawn bags full. 5k ft2. Trying to recover now. Thanks for the video Ryan!😎👊

[@sj7601]

Mine was terrible too, around 13 30 gallon bags full for 5500 sq ft. I used a bag of scotts starter food for new grass afterwards with overseeding and watered for two weeks. My grass has recovered pretty well and greened up tremendously. The overseeding didn't seem to do much however, so I hope everything will thicken up over time. If I did it over again, I'd definitely put something down for weeds because my lawn became very thin after dethatching.. but I wasn't sure what I could use with overseeding.

[@Lawnvolution]

Excellent job. The main thing is that all brown dead organic matter is gone. 👊

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

Depending on your conditions we certainly haven't had a good spring for growing new seed

[@sj7601]

@@ryanknorrlawncare Northern Indiana has had a weird spring like your location.. last weekend we hit a record high of 82 and now this weekend we hit a record low of 23 for the date. Had to cover plants and the tomato ones still died (maybe I didn't cover them properly, first time doing it) :(

[@DIOSpeedDemon]

Thank you and i will make some videos of my Hand-dethatched lawn and talk about it. RH DSDD

[@jatterberry7623]

Ty .... like how u explain everything . Plus all the extras .

[@1ronhall]

Nice video Ryan. Appreciate the tips.

[@pault477]

I’ve been mowing quite frequently and that really works.

[@joshua7999]

I’m a sucker for watching dethatching videos

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

It's a form of therapy

[@Cmthomps25]

Excellent video! Great tips

[@kosko20]

Moved to a new home last fall in Cincinnati. Looking to get a smallish yard in good shape. It's extremely uneven, probably should level it with top soil but there is a about a 12x12 foot section that is about a foot lower than the rest of the yard with a bunch of weeds and very little grass growing. Other sections of the lawn don't grow at all while some are super thick and lush. I don't even know where to start!

[@Sig_P229]

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

[@johnb8956]

JonD eh?

[@williamjohnson9727]

Great video! I just ordered one of your tshirts on the 5th. Can't wait till it gets here. Just wanted to show my support for your channel. Keep up the great work brother.

[@craigsnider9985]

Thanks for the follow up video! We keep up this cool weather, might just have to rent me a dethatcher after all. Just wishing I would have found your channel sooner, great information!

[@JonnyB589G]

What do you think about thatch enzymes instead of mechanical interventions?

[@Coronet_1969_]

Great video and music too...FYI, many broken links in the description area.

[@georgeackerman2220]

When you use your Swarman, why don't you use the catcher? It seems that you are just going over the same clippings and cutting them up into small pieces, thus doing some kind of mulch. Would it not be better to get rid of the thatch?

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

It fills the basket in about 10 feet

[@georgeackerman2220]

@@ryanknorrlawncare I thought that much. Thank you for another great video

[@darrtoo5767]

Ryan Knorr Lawn Care Yes it is a pain but to get a true cut, or depth, removal of the cut material is needed, otherwise you are re-cutting the same material as well as affecting the height - ie front roller riding up over this material. It may not seem much, but to produce a uniform surface across the entire area the cut material must be removed. My first boss told me on day 1 - “there’s no such thing as shortcuts in greenkeeping son”.

[@Mikebike68]

I love cutting lower. Lower for me is 3in though... (1.5-4in in uneven spots 🤦🏻‍♂️) but might have to go to 3.5inches to survive the summer heat in KC. Was cutting at 4in last two years and thatch layer was a bit much when de-thatching and over seeding last year. 60% TTTF 30% PRG 10%KGB in my best estimate. Overseeded with all TTTF. Used to be over half PRG. The PRG did not do well in the dead heat of the summer even with irrigation...

[@Cynthiaweddingsandmore]

To add to the comment I have used a tow behind dethatcher on my rider just to quicken the work of removing dead grass from winter. The problem is here in New England you have to do it when the ground dries up in April so you wont tear up new grass in May. Some times that is hard to get a weeks worth of dry weather with the sun angle still low in April. Because it does tear it up. I use 5-6 bricks to add weight for the tines to get lower. I have 16,000 ft lawn. I spent 3 days of raking with a groundskeeper ,and never again.

[@LessThanHandy]

You did 16k feet raking it with a groundskeeper? That is insane!!!

[@Hi_mynameis_Joshua]

I use a mantis dethatcher headset in the fall and fire in February. Takes care of everything and the first yard to green.

[@rymaster4385]

Those Swardmans are awesome machines, so versatile. Maybe one day......

[@briana5444]

Hey I'm that guy that's currently dethatching his lawn entirely with the rake you have... A week into it going patch by patch It's a good enough workout I'm noticing a difference in my arms and back 😂 one third the price of a machine and I look better in the mirror! 😂

[@philipramsden4975]

I felt my back and shoulders starting to ache watching him using the rake

[@whosonfirst1309]

@ Brian A I’ve done my front w/ that tool when I was a much younger man. Took all week the yard was amazing after. I still remember the neighbors wife telling him to go out and do it a week later, he was mad as hell at me.

[@YardGuy]

I broke my rake. Need a new handle on it now.

[@scotts917]

I rented a power rake/dethacther from the local rental place last fall for $45/day and did my 1 acre yard in about 2 hours. We had just purchased the house and the yard had never gotten any love. The dethatching generated 22 large wheelbarrows full of thatch!

[@PendragonDaGreat]

The other use of a dethatcher: ripping out moss. I finally convinced my dad to let me attack the moss mat that means I can't run the mower too low or it just binds. A detatching rake + some moss and feed stuff is making nice short work of it. I really wish I could find one of those electrical dethatchers at a non-inflated price though. MSRP is like $125, but no where has them for less than $200 ATM.

[@danield.4569]

+2 on the moss.

[@Mcdevin281]

Here is SE Michigan we had snow squalls and whiteouts on Friday

[@jnorth9702]

Thank you for sharing.

[@fabiannino4106]

I will be purchasing the green works one soon and dethatch this fall! I cant wait!. Good info. Go Pack Go🧀

[@andrewmyers7131]

Bought mine last week and ran it today. The reviews and videos are accurate, works well.

[@PacificNorthwestLawns]

Great info Ryan. I recently bought one of the manual dethatch rakes. Definitely a great tool to have around when you need it.

[@youtoldharpotobeatme5023]

I picked up the S_nJ_e dethatch and scarifier. You'd be amazed at how much stuff it will pull up off the soil.

[@Cynthiaweddingsandmore]

If you put down preemergent can you still rake with out disrupting the barrier in the soil . I use a groundskeeper 2 to rake dead grass from winter kill. I couldn't get all the yard done after preemergent and are a little reluctant to rake what I have left.

[@throatoysters]

I dethatched with the rake. Only 2600 sq.ft., but still a great workout.

[@iveywin]

Thanks Ryan. Very informative and most helpful. To date, my dethatching has been left to a ground hog!

[@tonymadera3603]

I plan to dethatch in early fall

[@luukdijkstra615]

Hi Ryan! Loving your video’s, keep up the good work!! Starting my own small project soon:). Greetings from the Netherlands

[@joshuaborem7063]

Good stuff here thanks. But would the advice change for people in Florida? Everyone in FL has St Augustine grass and it rains 5-15 times per week throughout the summer

[@JM.TheComposer]

Dethatching is not a thing for stolonous grass like St. Augustine. You'll just snag the grass's natural stolons and cause more harm than good.

[@joshuaborem7063]

@@JM.TheComposer that’s exactly what I did lol. Right after I made the post above. So what should I do about my thatchy lawn

[@JM.TheComposer]

@@joshuaborem7063 I'm a cool season guy myself, but even I know it's a touchy subject. I don't really know the answer to this. Some sources suggest you go really gently with a manual thatch rake.

[@alainapotaduh]

I want to dethatch with an electric, but I've already put down a half app of preemergent (with the other half at soil temp of 70 - nowhere near that in MN yet. Can I dethatch in between apps? I know I will probably disturb a little of the topsoil but not enough to do damage, right?

[@kevinmorante732]

Alaina Brooks you will be fine

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

You won't be digging into the soil much at all so all good

[@whywouldigivemyrealname5162]

Never heard of this before. Thanks for the info.

[@GiTxSHuM]

What type of grass do you have? I like the way it looks. Would that grass be able to live with 85-95 degrees everyday of the year? I live on an island and would like to grow this grass. I would have sprinklers those to make sure it stays green. Thanks.

[@98JamesNixon]

Would it be worth putting a pre emergent down for weeds? I dethatched my lawn recently and then a load of unwanted tall fescue started growing in between my existing grass where the thatch was. I never see anyone mention this step

[@andyslawncareandoutdooradv]

I'm not Ryan, but yes it is a good idea to put down a pre emergent after dethatching

[@wayneessar7489]

Many folks overseed after dethatching so they don't apply things that inhibit germination.

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

Tall fescue won't be prevented but yes you want to use pre-emergent otherwise

[@andrewp.619]

That Swardman did just as good as any gas machine I’ve ever used. I want one of those, so bad!

[@tnhawkeye6155]

I live in South Florida and planted rye grass because it looks great in your yard. I sprayed super juice but it is still dying. It would be nice if you would explain what grasses should be planted where. I have no thatch but my yard is dying. Should I spray more super juice?

[@Pilph1966]

I am wondering about the pull behind a mower ones. I have 16k yard and a lot of debris that I need to remove. Won't be doing it until fall though. I want to dethatch, plug, then overseed.

[@iwayned]

Will bagging your mowers cuttings remove thatch problems?

[@fabiolavilla1163]

As a lawn mower enthusiast I approve

[@PawsAndKeys]

Can you do a video about your garage and how you store all your gear?

[@RyRyWags]

Good video, and information!

[@ajtee721]

Watching this while its raining outside

[@ggonzo1000]

Ryan, I seen u have the manual dethatching rake but any idea how it compares to the groundskeeper 2 rake?

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

The dedicated thatch rake seems to be a little more aggressive

[@chrisyoung8062]

Ryan, does dethatching late spring or early summer damage the protective layer of the preemergent? My yard needs a dethatching quite badly but I'm not going to get to it this fall. I don't want to wait until next fall but I know that once you put down the preemergent you don't want to disturb the soil (like you would with an aeration). What say you on this?

[@tiffanywhite2121]

Thank you Ryan for the video!

[@blackstaticband]

to prevent thatch from buildling up, do you bag your clippings?

[@johnstanton8499]

Our local Park never dethatches or collect the cuttings but the grass is always healthy ,what is the difference?

[@J24777]

I just used that Green works! Definitely a Great Electric machine!

[@LifeisAmazingify]

I wasn’t sure who was talking to me at first until you put your hat on.

[@nightmarecivic]

What about pull behind ones for tractors?

[@jonglee8776]

I followed your videos for my lawn. I reseed 2 weeks ago and the grass is looking great. However, there are lots of bare patches. When should I overseed to cover the bare patches? And when is it typically "safe" to walk on new grass to overseed? Thanks!

[@amiryalda3176]

hi their I got question how much will that machine cost and where I can get one

[@shawnanzulewicz9811]

Ryan hopefully you see this, when it comes to weed and feed applications is there a time frame that it’s too late to put it down? Are you better off waiting for next year vs wasting money?

[@LessThanHandy]

I was hoping you'd mention something about the dethatchers pulled with the riding mowers. What do you think of those?

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

It's a little different because you're just dragging tines through the lawn but if that's what you have, then it will do the job. I just prefer something that can spin and grab the thatch on the soil layer.

[@turfgrass]

You gave me important knowledge. Thank you.

[@gordoncampbell4069]

Hi Ryan - do you have any thoughts on using one of those power rake attachments you put on your lawnmower? The ones that you swap out your blade that looks like your lawnmower blade but has little plastic or metal fingers that extend down to rake or scruff up the thatch? Does it do an ok job or does it destroy your lawn? It is relatively inexpensive by comparison to a dedicated dethatcher. Thanks for your thoughts on this

[@FMDetailStudio]

Hey Ryan, I'm trying to decide between the Edwin and the Electra. Are you happy with the mower and performance of the electric for both cutting and dethatching scenarios? If you had to do it over which one would you choose? I have a 7000ish sq/ft yard so battery should be plenty for my needs. I prefer the idea of a quiet, electric, but don't want to be disappointed by the performance after spending $4,000.

[@Terry11111]

Good info thanks Ryan

[@alexn5520]

I use a ProPlugger for pulling cores and soil samples. I see you always use your probe instead. What do you like about using the probe instead of the plugger this stuff. Looks like you really have to lay on it to get it to dig into the soil.

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

Soil is really dry here right now otherwise it's easy to use the soil probe and pull on a small core instead of a larger plug

[@tanners7655]

Great vid! I’ve taken on the job of tackling my parents yard this year, and they’ve never(to my knowledge) dethatched + aerated + over seeded. I was hoping to tackle that this year yet, but had a question. A week or two they had their lawn fertilized and today they had their lawn sprayed for weeds, do you recommend a waiting period now before beginning that process? I’m in the Nebraska. Thank you for your time!!🌾

[@LlyleHunter]

Have you considered aeration shoes to wear while mowing?

[@LlyleHunter]

www.walmart.com/ip/Lawn-Aerator-Shoes-Heavy-Duty-Garden-Tool/294333211?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=18988&adid=22222222228338981663&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=431057875856&wl4=pla-899063049023&wl5=9012026&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=125210027&wl11=online&wl12=294333211&veh=sem&gclid=Cj0KCQjwzN71BRCOARIsAF8pjfi9UZZba6NvSNcxUbPs6xKvOvO70KHtJ_3wyez6tTJ-127rbbujsBIaAjPNEALw_wcB

[@Legendary_UA]

Not after putting down a pre-emergent.

[@michaelprice7005]

Dethatched at the end of March, looking great in May!

[@lazarusgrey4866]

Great video! Can you compost thatch?

[@warrendottin8807]

Ryan concerning the Greenworks dethatcher product.How long is the extension cord and what gauge wire do you use?

[@tundrawhisperer4821]

Ryan, how would I go about identifying my grass type? Thx

[@LessThanHandy]

www.lawngrasses.com/info/climate-map.html#.Xrlxi1NOlkw

[@AMP8424]

After i dethatch do i put fertilzer then level with sand, or level then add fertilizer?

[@mattlane7888]

Ryan.... good video... if we employ your de-thatch recommendation, how much impact is there on pre-emergent, how many weeks coverage will I loose?

[@chrishall6224]

What brand of grass seed do you use?

[@anthonypapa9407]

Hi Ryan are there benefits to liquid dethatching? Do they work well at breaking down the organic matter of the thatch? When is best to apply?

[@sharkdizogg]

Can you put preemergent down right after dethatching or does that stop the desired grass from filling in after?

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

Pre-emergent ingredients may slow things ever so slightly but it wouldn't be enough for a major concern. I'd rather not have the weeds coming in

[@christopheramerally3194]

Ryan, what’s your thoughts or experience if any with next D-Thatch or any sort of liquid dethatcher.

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

I haven't used one personally. Speaking to those more informed than me it would need to be much warmer for it to work better and 43 degree isn't going to cut it haha

[@dagtailgroundmaintenance]

So it's not just about how fine the sand is. It's also the shape?

[@sieras_on_the_run]

Hello, i've planted my lawn a year ago. It has some light green spots where the grass doesn't grow too much, but most of the lawn is darker green and grows nicely (I don't really know the grass spiecies). I can see some thatch on the light green spots. It's going to be 60-70 degrees here in Poland with little to no rain, so the question is should I dethatch and aerate it or should I do in at the start of September? We have a small drought situation right now and latest summers were pretty dry. I have an irrigation system. Thanks in advance ! :D

[@thm59225]

Where do you buy your equipment you are using?

[@hassenfepher]

Good stuff. But I live in west palm beach Florida. Got any recommendations for a content creator in my climate zone? I’ll keep searching, but if you already know a guy....

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

Lawn Care nut is in Florida

[@carlossalatti]

Hi there. Thanks for sharing all those videos. I live up in Canada and I just realized I really need to dethatching but I've already put down some fertilizer like 3 days ago. Should I wait a little longer to detachtching or I can do that right away? Thanks a lot again.

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

You may end up removing quite a bit of that fertilizer that's still sitting there

[@ICUTGRASSLLC]

It looks like that machine forces you to continually grind up what you pulled out by continually throwing the debris ahead of you? Never seen a forward throwing dethatch machine before.

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

You can put the basket on front if you want but it fills up really fast. The material is very light so it actually just keeps pushing it forward very easily

[@dustinpomeroy8817]

Hey Ryan, is there anything I can put on my grass that will control the weeds without preventing me from over seeding?

[@kevinmorante732]

Dustin Pomeroy tenacity

[@dustinpomeroy8817]

@@kevinmorante732 Hey thanks Kevin,I have a buddy that's head grounds keeper at a professional staduim,I was just gonna ask him but I figure turfgrass might be a little different so I figured I'd ask Ryan ,he seems to have the same level of professionalism

[@323232blue]

Please tell where I can get the dethatcher from

[@greenthumb8170]

I’ve always been told this is too harsh on a lawn, and core aeration works better with less damage. How do you compare the two?

[@mhsball2011able]

Since we are not getting much water how much should I water my lawn?

[@r0b0f1sh3]

If I put a pre emergent down already can I still dethatch or will that disturb the effectiveness of the pre emergent?

[@gwvths]

Hey Ryan, I'm in NYC. I just dethatched, It's bare now. mostly dirt about 80% dirt and its dry. should I start the seeding process?

[@bigbirdyolo2885]

jeamenn Julien Im from same area, reseeded end of April but grass is taking a while to grow at cutting height. Can probably get away with putting new seed down, but make sure to put a starter w mesotrine and peat moss. Summer is coming so can probably mix the seed w some organic fertilizer like Milorganite.

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

Yes you can but be prepared to do so again in the fall is things don't completely make it through the summer heat