Power Rake Lawn In Fall

Optimal shoot growth occurs with air temperatures of 55 to 75 f.

Power rake lawn in fall.

This will give plants a chance to recover before they become dormant in winter or midsummer. It can pick up 2 4 times more thatch than dethatching. By waiting until late summer or early fall you avoid the possibility of weeds taking over areas that have been damaged by power raking. 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.

When to schedule lawn maintenance. Power raking is for lawns with a serious thatch problem. Weeds are vigorous and aggressive in the spring. Power raking addresses a much more superficial problem in the 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. 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. This layer prevents your lawn from breathing properly. In the fall months shoots start to grow again and nutrients are stored in the long roots for the winter.

Power raking combined with overseeding while the grass is still growing gives your lawn time to recover before cold weather hits. Power raking should be done either in the spring or fall when grass is growing vigorously but heat stress is not a problem. 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. Power raking untangles dead grass from the living plants around it a process that can bruise and even kill the live plants.

Fine fescue or kentucky bluegrass. Most homeowners power rake in spring and also in the fall when they want to overseed their lawns. Cool season grasses grow in the spring and fall and include kentucky. Fall lawn maintenance is the perfect time for a good power raking.

Power raking is the more aggressive approach to taking thatch out of your lawn. Cool season root growth is stimulated by soil temperatures above 32 f and is optimal with soil temperatures between 50 and 65 f. 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. Using a dethatching rake is similar to using a regular rake.