- Author: Marian I Chmieleski
Although most water-wise gardeners are thinking about removing much of their turfgrass-- in some areas the irrigation of that turfgrass may even be prohibited--many of us still do have a lawn and now is a good time to see if it needs a little rejuvenating.
If the lawn has had years of heavy traffic from soccer games, dog races or lawn parties the soil may be compacted. In that case, it is difficult for water, oxygen and nutrients to penetrate the soil and reach the roots of the grass. Aeration can vastly improve the health of a lawn growing in compacted soil. If you choose to aerate your lawn, do avoid tools that simply punch holes in the soil. They actually contribute to compaction. Aeration is best done with an aerating machine that brings up little cores of soil, opening the area up for a healthier growing season. The cores do not need to be removed, but will decompose and add nutrients back into the soil through the thatch layer.
Additionally, that thatch layer might be a problem. Some thatch on a lawn is quite healthy. It acts much as a mulch does by shading the soil to reduce water evaporation and to protect roots from frost; by shading out weeds; and by actually providing a cushion to help protect from compaction. However, when the thatch layer builds to well over half an inch in depth, it can prevent water's reaching the soil, harbor pests and elevate the crown of the grass plants above soil itself, exposing plants to damage from temperature extremes. If thatch seems to be a problem, de-thatching will be your answer.
You can hire someone to professionally dethatch your lawn or you can do it yourself either by renting a vertical mower or a verticut machine, or by simply using a dethatching rake. Our front lawn is very small and my husband found a dethatching rake in my sister's garage, so that's the method he chose. It turned out to be very good exercise and a not-too-lengthy process (says the woman, who was not wielding the rake).
Following a "how-to" video he found on YouTube, he went over the lawn first in one direction and then in another at 90 degrees to the first, pulling the thatch off the lawn as he went. Afterwards, he used our regular lawn/leaf rake to rake up more of the thatch that had been cut but was still lying on the lawn. When he had finished the lawn had a much cleaner look and he re-seeded any resulting bare areas. We're now hoping that our little lawn will rebound happily, enjoying the rains that are expected this week and the sun that is sure to follow.
Even though it might be better if we did not keep that lawn, the fact that it has been dethatched should allow it to do well with less water than it previously needed. We'll count that as progress.