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Lawn Dethatching

What is thatch?

Thatch is a term used to describe a layer of material between the blades of grass and the soil below. Thatch is a good thing and has many benefits. Lawn dethatching in Cedar City is needed when the thatch layer becomes too thick and actually becomes detrimental to the lawn. Around 1/2” is generally recommended as a healthy thatch layer. This provides nutrients, sun and shade, and protection to the grass crowns. If the thatch layer builds up to thicker levels then it reduces water penetration (water stays in the thatch which often leads to fungus or disease), no sun reaches the lower blades, and the roots do not penetrate deeper as they stay in the thatch where water is easy to obtain. Thatch is primarily composed of dead organic material such as leaves and grass. Thatch builds up over time in all lawns.

In Cedar City, certain lawn care practices increase thatch such as over fertilizing with nitrogen, over watering, mowing grass at long lengths, mulching instead of bagging, or even just having soils high in clay leads to increased thatch. Not all of these practices are inherently bad. For example, nitrogen keeps grass green, mulching replenishes nutrients and reduces fertilizer needs by 30%, keeping grass long requires less effort and/or frequency in mowing. The take home idea is that grass builds thatch and it needs to be maintained at proper levels for Cedar City lawns to thrive. An annual power raking in Cedar City and Enoch will help keep your thatch layer at an appropriate thickness.

*Thatch Thickness chart

What is lawn dethatching/power raking?

  1. A thick thatch layer blocks sunlight, water, and nutrients from the soil.
  2. A power rake combs out a portion of that thatch layer.
  3. Sunlight, water, and nutrients are able to enter the soil.
  4. Roots grow deeper and thicker, grass grows thicker, taller, and darker.

In Cedar City lawn dethatching, sometimes called lawn power raking, thatch is “combed” out of the lawn. Lawn thatching can be performed by hand with a thatch rake. It is hard and tedious work. Image raking, while applying a lot of pressure, your entire yard by hand. We’d be tired just thinking about that. Enoch lawn dethatchings can be performed with a motorized dethatcher that saves time and does a better job. When we do lawn power raking in Cedar City many people are amazed by the amount of thatch that is pulled from their lawn. Many lawns have gone years without having thatch removed. We run into many people that have cared for their Enoch lawn the same way for years and wonder why each year it looks a little worse. While a lawn dethatching service is most likely not the only reason it is usually a major part. In Enoch lawn care there is a variety of elements required to have a thick and healthy lawn.

How is lawn dethatching in Cedar City performed?

There is more than one way to skin a cat the old saying says. So it is with lawn dethaching in Cedar City and Enoch Utah. A thatch rake can be purchased for relatively cheap at any home and garden store. The fun begins when you get it home and spend hours of back breaking work trying to manually comb the thatch out of your lawn, only to then have to rake it all up and try to bag it and haul it off. In 2017 technology is king and we can save your back. Our motorized power rakes swing vertical tines back and forth creating more power and speed than even olympic athletes could think of. The result is a quick an efficient process that removes the thatch from your yard. A few thousand dollars could buy you a power rake in Cedar City or you could even rent a lawn dethatcher in Cedar City for just shy of $100 and then get to trailer it to your house, do the work, and then return the machine. (Don’t forget to gas it up or you’ll pay greatly for the quart of gas to top it off.) Or you can call us. No trips to the rental yard, no work for yourself, and you’ll pay even less. Due to the quantity of Cedar City yards we maintain you can get a lawn power rake service for cheaper than you could rent the machine. Bundle with your Enoch power raking with an Enoch lawn aeration or fertilizer application and you’ll be set for the spring. Let our specialization save you time, worry and money.

Thatch Rake

Thatch rake in action

Motorized Power Rake

Benefits of Power Raking in Cedar City and Enoch Utah
  • Better water, air, nutrient penetration to the roots
  • Reduction in chance of lawn fungus & disease
  • A more weed resistant lawn (thicker grass)
  • Better water absorption (less run off & puddling)
  • A more even lawn with less mower scalping
  • Stronger roots ​

The Bottom Line:

A heathier, better looking, greener lawn that costs less and is easier to maintain!!

What is lawn dethatching/power raking?

It all depends on how much thatch is in your lawn. Over time all lawns develop a thatch layer, which is healthy, but needs to be controlled. Certain practices add thatch quicker to lawns. Mowing grass at a long length, over watering, mulching instead of bagging, using nitrogen fertilzers are a few examples. These practices aren’t inherintly evil, some of them are actually smart. Using nitrogen fertilizers makes a lawn green, mulching fertilizing the lawn naturally and saves around 30% on added fertilizers, keeping grass longer saves on water. Here is our rule of thumb, if you take good care of your lawn an annual power raking will be suffiecient. With our Cedar City full service yard care customers we aerate and power rake every spring as a part of the service. They receive 4 fertilizer applications throughout the year, as well as a sprinkler system inspection in the spring and winterization in the fall. Our clients always have the best looking yard on their street and each year we pull a significant amount of thatch from each lawn.

When should my Cedar City/Enoch lawn be power raked?

Spring is the time!
(Late February-Early May)

Timing is critical when it comes to power raking. Many people think of lawn dethatching in Enoch as a terrible idea that ruined their neighbor’s mother’s, sister’s friend’s lawn. When done while the grass is thick and green a power rake will rip up heathy grass. The depth of the tines is also important. Most people who have had problems with Cedar City lawn dethatching had a poor service performed at the wrong time. The proper time for lawn dethatching in Iron County is when the grass is still mostly dormant from winter but when temperatures are warming and grass growth is begininng. Power raking is stressful to a lawn and when done at the right time the lawn is in the right stage to recover quickly, fill any open areas with new growth. We power rake our office lawn as well as all of our regular lawn care clients’ lawns each year and they are the best looking yards in town and that’s what we tell any nay sayers to look at.