How to De-thatch a Lawn With a Lawn Mower

Thatch builds up under the grass surface and chokes out the grass.

Excessive thatch in your lawn can choke out healthy grass and turn your lawn into a weed-infested landscape. Although you can rent equipment that you drive over your grass to de-thatch it, if you do it manually with regular lawn tools such as a rake and a lawnmower, you will have a better understanding of what is going on in your yard because you will have more time to examine the grass and soil as you work.

Things You'll Need

• Thatch rake
• Lawnmower

Instructions

1. Create a mental grid of your lawn and work in areas approximately 3 or 4 feet square.

2. Run a thatching rake over the surface of the grass. A thatching rake has heavy spines that pull the thatch out from under the grass as you pull the rake over the surface of the ground. Understand that the rake will also pull up some grass and dirt while you work.

3. Press loose dirt back into the soil with your hands. This will prevent the mower from pulling up the loose dirt.

4. Attach a bag onto your lawnmower and drive over the thatched area to pick up the loose thatch.

5. Move to a new section of the lawn and repeat the process until you have de-thatched the entire area.

References

• All About Lawns; How Do I Dethatch?; Dawn West; August 2004
• This Old House; How to De-thatch a Lawn; Roger Cook; March 2010