When do i power rake

A power rake is much more aggressive at getting rid of the buildup of dead grass debris compared to a dethatcher. Lawn dethatchers use spring tines while power rakes have rotating flails for.

Both machines are mechanical and can be gas-powered or electrical. A power rake is basically similar to a dethatcher, but the two remove thatch in and debris in different ways. Both power raking and dethatching fix the same problem in the lawn — thatch and debris. Thatch buildup starts as dead grass, stolons, and grass clippings failing to decompose at a good rate. At an early stage, it will just be dead matter lying on top of the soil, which you can fix by power raking.

As time goes by and if decomposition takes place but at a slower rate, the dead matter forms thatch. When you have more than an inch of thatch buildup in your lawn, your grass will start to look unhealthy because of the poor supply of nutrients, water, and oxygen. That is where you want to use a dethatcher to break down the thick layer of decomposing organic matter and overseed the lawn to make it thick and full.

My go-to power rake over the past 3 seasons has been the Greenworks Corded Dethatcher. I love this thing. I use it on all my Bermuda lawns and have used it on Zoysia and Fescue lawns as well. Click to learn more.

Both power raking and dethatching aim at removing excess thatch in the lawn. A power rake is good for getting rid of the thick layer of debris lying on top of the soil while a dethatcher is good for removing a thin layer of decomposing organic matter that forms the topmost part of the soil in the lawn.

Power raking is a more aggressive process of removing thatch and dead matter in the lawn while dethatching is a light process that removes just a thin layer of debris that makes fertilizer absorption poor.

A dethatcher is usually spring tines that rotate and dislodge the layer of thatch and dead matter on the lawn while a power rake is usually mechanical with a dethatching blade that has rotating flails. The flails aggressively dig up thick layers of thatch from the lawn. A dethatcher is a small machine that looks almost like push lawnmowers. Some come as extensions that you can attach to a lawn mower. On the other hand, a power rake is a heavy-duty machine that removes large amounts of thatch from a lawn.

Power raking outside of these times can potentially damage your lawn by removing living turf during growing season. Power raking is great for removing dead matter and aeration. Because only the thatch layer is targeted, waste is removed without damaging the healthy grass allowing faster recovery. This brings us back to our main question: so, when should you power rake…. You should power rake when the grass is actively growing as this allows your turf to recover- power raking tends to cause some damage to healthy grass.

To be clear, the ideal time to power rake cool-season grasses such as Rye grass, Bentgrass, and Kentucky blue grass is during the early months of the spring. Time the activity such that the grass will have at least a 30 days growing and recovery window following power raking.

For the best results, you should not power rake when the ground is wet- you want the soil just moist not excessively wet. Power raking is the more aggressive approach to taking thatch out of your lawn. This process involves a machine about the size of a push mower that uses mechanical flails to literally dig the thatch out of your lawn. Power raking is for lawns with a serious thatch problem.

After the thatch is flailed from your lawn, the entire lawn is gone over with a mower that will mow the entire lawn while picking up the thatch. This process is much more labor-intensive than dethatching, and I joke that no do-it-yourselfer ever power raked their lawn twice because it usually ends up being more work than anticipated.

Power raking is usually double the cost of dethatching if you hire a company to do it for you. Read on…. Dethatching and power raking are necessary if you feel like you have dead thatch in your lawn that is smothering or keeping your good grass from flourishing.