Can a Landscape Rake Dethatch a Lawn?
Landscape rakes offer too much power to work for delicate dethatching, which removes the dead, matted pieces of grass without trampling your existing lawn. Keep landscaping rakes for large renovation projects and use recommended dethatching tools for that job. Does this Spark an idea?
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Recommended Tools
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Landscape rakes are not among the recommended tools for lawn dethatching. A hand-held thatching rake works well to dethatch small areas but can be tiresome to use on a large lawn. A dethatcher, which is roughly the same size and shape as a lawnmower, works well on large lawns. Neither Oregon State University Extension nor the University of California Davis recommend using a landscape rake.
Uses
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Landscape rakes attach to small tractors. They're impractical for use in home lawns, since the rake tines would greatly damage the grass, as would the tractor tire treads. Landscape rakes work to remove rocks or gravel from your home or to smooth the soil surface in preparation for a new lawn.
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Process
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To detatch a lawn, rake with the thatch rake or run the dethatcher across your lawn. Use either tool lengthwise across your lawn, then turn 90 degrees and make a widthwise pass once you've completed one round of dethatching. These tools unmat the grass and remove dead grass pieces to help new grass grow properly.
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References
- Photo Credit Ryan McVay/Photodisc/Getty Images
