Power Rake Lawn In Fall

Power rake cool season grasses in the early fall.

Power rake lawn in fall.

It is hard on your lawn to power rake it so be sure you only do it when the thatch is more than 1 2 thick. Power raking is the more aggressive approach to taking thatch out of your lawn. When to schedule lawn maintenance. This will give plants a chance to recover before they become dormant in winter or midsummer.

Optimal shoot growth occurs with air temperatures of 55 to 75 f. Cool season grasses grow in the spring and fall and include kentucky. In the fall months shoots start to grow again and nutrients are stored in the long roots for the winter. Power raking is for lawns with a serious thatch problem.

Fall lawn maintenance is the perfect time for a good power raking. Power raking untangles dead grass from the living plants around it a process that can bruise and even kill the live plants. The process of power raking removes a thick layer of dead grass matter or debris sitting right on top of the soil in your lawn. Power raking addresses a much more superficial problem in the lawn.

Most homeowners power rake in spring and also in the fall when they want to overseed their lawns. This layer prevents your lawn from breathing properly. Weeds are vigorous and aggressive in the spring. Power rake zoysia in the early summer and bluegrass in the early fall.

Small lawns can be dethatched using a specialized dethatching rake or you can rent a dethatcher also known as a vertical cutter verticutter or power rake to tackle larger lawns mow your lawn to half its normal height before you begin dethatching. This process involves a machine about the size of a push mower that uses mechanical flails to literally dig the thatch out of your lawn. Before the days of mulching mowers and leaf blowers raking was one way to keep thatch at bay and remove winter s debris but nowadays machines have replaced muscle power in many lawn grooming. Power raking combined with overseeding while the grass is still growing gives your lawn time to recover before cold weather hits.

Once you power rake your lawn in the fall its overall health should begin to improve by spring as light water and air are able to nourish its root system. Power raking should be done either in the spring or fall when grass is growing vigorously but heat stress is not a problem. Cool season root growth is stimulated by soil temperatures above 32 f and is optimal with soil temperatures between 50 and 65 f. It can pick up 2 4 times more thatch than dethatching.