How to Remove Dead Crabgrass with a Power Rake

Save money on removing crabgrass by renting a power rake.

Crabgrass is a warm season grass that can either be grown as turf or wind up impeding your existing lawn. Power rakes are effective for removing dead grass, because their sharp tines slice through the dead grass and force it up to the surface of the lawn. Springtime is the best time to power rake your lawn in order to get it ready for the growing season.

Things You'll Need

• Lawn mower
• Rake
• Power rake
• Fertilizer
• Fertilizer spreader

Instructions

1. Mow your lawn at the lowest setting on your lawn mower. The existing grass should be 1 inch in height. Rake up the grass clippings and throw away or place in your compost.

2. Space the blades according to the grass you are growing in the lawn. Bermuda and zoysiagrass need blades set 1 to 2 inches apart. St. Augustine and bahiagrass need blades set at 3 inches apart by the hardware store prior to renting.

3. Push your power rake horizontally across the lawn by following an imaginary line. Go back over the lawn vertically. Make two passes over the lawn.

4. Rake up the thatch and crabgrass debris. Throw away the debris unless you are growing a crabgrass lawn. If your lawn is crabgrass, throw the crabgrass debris in the compost.

5. Apply a slow release fertilizer on the grass that is high in nitrogen. You can use 1 lb. of nitrogen per 1,000 sq. feet. Pour the nitrogen granules in the fertilizer spreader and walk across the lawn area. Make one trip horizontally and one trip vertically.

6. Water the grass area with a gardening hose to activate the fertilizer.

Tips & Warnings

• Press a measuring stick into the soil. Remove thatch that is over 1/2 inch high. Thatch is the living and dead organic material that grows in between the soil and grass roots. Press a measuring stick through the grass to the soil to find out how much thatch is in the yard.

• Avoid applying soil amendments or fertilizer on a turf that has not been dethatched for the year if its thatch layer is over 1/2 inch high.

References

• Yardcare.com: 8 Steps to Lawn Restoration
• Colorado State University Extension: Thatch and Mat: Problems of Turfgrass