Benefits Summary:
- Grass plants require adequate irrigation to be healthy.
- Aeration and dethatching your lawn will enhance irrigation water infiltration.
You’ve spent hundreds of dollars creating beautiful landscaping around your home including a lawn. Over time, your lawn produces thatch. Thatch is a tightly interwoven layer of living and dead tissue existing between the green vegetation and soil surface. It is composed primarily of products from stems, leaf sheaths, and roots that are fairly resistant to decay. Excessive thatch will prevent efficient irrigation of water infiltration, making your lawn more susceptible to drought.
To check your lawns thatch layer, cut a two inch deep pie shaped wedge out of your lawn, and measure the distance between the soil surface and green vegetation. If there is more than one-half inch of thatch present, dethatching is required. If there is more than one inch of thatch present, aeration may be required in advance of dethatching to alleviate soil compaction and enhance root growth. If you need assistance with assessing your need for thatch control or just want someone else to get the job done, please contact a professional.
This Tip provided by:
David Roath, 7 years experience as Head Golf Course Superintendent at Sunriver Resort’s Meadows Golf Course, Turf and Landscape Management Hortculture Degree from OSU, LCB#15512.