YOUR WASHINGTON LAWN & TREE CARE EXPERTS

DISCOVER GREEN IN A WHOLE NEW WAY

Dethatching, Aerating, & Seeding, Oh My!

By: Impeccable Landscapes       September 10, 2017

Labor day has passed which means that summer is finally starting the wind down. This means it’s time to start concentrating on how you are going to make sure that you lawn recovers fully when winter ends and spring emerges. Clearly this is what you want to happen. But what can you do to make sure that you get the results you want? Well, the answer to that is a fairly simple one. The best way to prep for lawn for fall and winter is to dethatch, aerate and seed your lawn. When you complete these methods correctly, you won’t have to worry about your lawn and its state all winter long, and instead, you can simply look forward to lush green grass come spring.

Dethatching

More often than not, a lawn will experience areas in which the grass has died right above the soil. This layer of the grass is known as the thatch, which can actually benefit your lawn if you have it in the smallest amounts. On the other hand, if the thatch builds up too quickly, this will prevent water and air from being able to reach your grass, resulting in these brown patches becoming more common and prominent.

Dethatching is a process that can remove the layer of dead grass so that your healthier grass can emerge. If you are wondering when the right time to dethatch is, you should look for a half-inch of dead grass that has built up and that is clearly beginning to weaken the portions of the lawn around it. If you see this, dethatching is your next step.

Tips For Dethatching:

  • Be sure to water your lawn fully one day before you plan to dethatch.
  • Mow the grass to half of the height it normally is.
  • Make sure to flag anything that may be hidden in the grass like sprinkler heads.
  • Dethatch in two different directions (a 90 degree angle from one another)
  • If you have bare spots, make sure to reseed your lawn.
  • Water your lawn afterwards to aid it in recovery.
  • Make sure to regularly aerate in the future.

Aerating

Over time, the soil in your lawn naturally compacts. This is the entire reason aerating is necessary, as the aeration perforations in the soil allow for air water and nutrients to get to the roots of the grass. Additionally, this process can remove mild thatch. This makes it easier for the roots to grow deeper and allows for your lawn to become stronger and more resistant to drought. While not every lawn needs to be aerated on a yearly basis, yours will if there is often a lot of foot traffic on your grass.

Aeration can be completed with one of two tools: a spike aerator or a plug aerator. We would recommend a plug aerator as it allows for plugs of grass and soil to be removed from the ground, preventing increased compaction as can occur with a spike aerator.

Tips for Aerating:

  • Be sure to water your lawn the day before you are going to aerate the soil.
  • Make one pass over the entire lawn but several passes over areas that are compacted
  • Allow the soil plugs to dry, breaking them up later with a lawn mower.

Seeding

Many times, the heat of summer can take grass from looking amazing to a state where it is really struggling. If you have noticed that there are brown patches or thin sections in your yard, it’s probably time to seed your lawn. If you decide to seed, you can feel good about how your lawn will look once spring arrives next year. Additionally, even if your lawn looks fine now, additional seeding can help to make your lawn especially lush moving forward.

Seeding in the fall is the best time as cooler temperatures help to assist the seeds in retaining moisture, leading to them germinating properly over time.

Tips for Seeding:

  • Mow your grass lower than you normally would
  • Dethatch or aerate the lawn first, if you think it is needed
  • Sprinkle your lawn with fertilizer
  • Apply the see and rake them loosely
  • Water your grass normally thereafter

Hire the Experts Instead

While these tips may be helpful, you might be feeling a bit overwhelmed at the idea of all you have to do in order to prepare your lawn for fall and winter. Fortunately, our lawn care experts at Impeccable Landscapes know how to take care of all of this for you. We offer dethatching, aeration, seeding and more lawn care services, all at a fair price. If you are interested in hiring our professional team to take care of your lawn so that we can prepare it for being lush and green come spring, contact us today and find out how we can help you! We would love nothing more than to take all of these tasks on ourselves so that you don’t have to.

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