7 DETHATCHING MISTAKES that could RUIN YOUR LAWN

Dethatching your lawn can be a great step in getting a healthy beautiful yard. However, there are some common mistakes that can end up making things worse than before. In this video, I discuss how to avoid the 7 common mistakes that the average DIYer makes when detaching their lawn.
🔴 Products mentioned:

🟢 Other products I use on my lawn:

[msk]

I am amazed at how thatch comes out every time I do it! Detaching is amazing, I live in New England and over the years have detached in spring, early summer and I never had any issues.

[eddiane]

Nice video. Great info for a homeowner. Im in Wisconsin and the "terminology" dethatching is what it called however most people dont really know or have seen true thatch. The process to break that down is with a vertical mower by verticutting or scarifier. Both are destructive processes but should only be used when true thatch is found. True thatch can be deceptive however the best way to simply describe it is by having grass try to grow thru a wool blanket on the ground. The blanket is the true thatch that really cant be effectively broken up by spring tine methods.
True thatch is usually over 1/2" thick and sits below the crown and on top of the soil layer. It prevents sun, moisture and fertilizer from doing the job intended. What is mostly done here under the umbrella word of dethatching is basically a raking of the lawn by mechanical methods. Its more of a visual but some of the debris that isnt true thatch is lifted and can be vacuumed and removed making a lawn look combed and visually appealing after a winter where the top layer is pressed down from the snow. I do agree that true dethatching should be done when active growing is happening. However this type of work that is done here can be done in early spring when new chutes are just getting started. Obviously frozen or wet ground is a no go. I have been doing this commercially here for 28 years and the dethatching and spring clean time is crazy and also profitable from a commercial operators viewpoint. Thanks for sharing the good info for the homeowner.

[brianbacich]

Best video that I’ve watched on this topic by far. I was headed out to dethatch my cool season grass that was wet and I would have hurt it. I’m going to wait until fall now. Thanks

[Cary_Shultz]

A little bit late to the party, but just found your channel and subscribed. I am here in Lexington, NC and just over seeded some amazing seed for this process). But, before I did that, I dethatched. With an old rake. Man, there was a ton of material (as expected). I will not over seed if I have not done a dethatch before hand. Too much "interference" for the new seed to make that much-needed "seed-to-soil" contact. Your list of seven is spot on. Job well done.

[jonnyrozzo]

Great video! In my area in Wi, people are absolutely obsessed with dethatching in early-early spring. They all use the “power rake blades” on their mowers and tear the crap out of their yards. If I dethatch, I do it in fall to avoid the weed pressure like you mentioned. The old timers look at me like I’m the crazy one lol.

[MrErpman]

Central Texas here - Last year (2023), i was mowing into December. When spring came this year, I had a lot of dead grass because the clippings didn't break down. I ended up dethatching the worst spots by hand. This next spring I'm using my new dethatcher/verticutter.

[Dr.Reason]

This info seems to be just what I needed. Simple, clear, and instructive. Thanks

[marksullivan]

This is the best dethatching video on YouTube for sure!!! Thanks

[IWantUKnow]

NICE! I just bought the green works dethatcher 😊 I’m planning on dethatching, then laying down weed and feed, then seeding over my existing lawn… which is barely existing since the last owners used a grass type that cannot handle the sun and heat that my lawn deals with.
Thank you so much for the info! ☺️

[JleeA]

Metal leaf rake. Love seeing all the thatch come out. Plus a great arm workout

[marys]

Oops! I’ve already made some mistakes but now I know. Thanks for the video!

[seanslawns]

Instead of lakehouse lawn you need to change it to GQ Lawn.

My dude is always on point with the style!

[sjp]

My personal mistake #8: Not wearing PPE. My greenworks dethatcher tore up so much dead grass (scorched grass that didn't come back after winter) and the wind blew it in my face, I ended up with a very bad respiratory infection that lasted 3 weeks (+2 more weeks with a cough). Doc said there may have been fertilizer or bacteria in it that I inhaled too much of.

...#9, If you have uneven ground, dips or holes, the tines of the dethatcher will go deeper than expected if a wheel dips and brings the cylinder closer to the ground. I ended up scalping a few spots :(

[YardBrah]

Perfect video brother! Your lawn is looking crazy good my friend!!! 😊🤙🏾

[matthewthorsen]

Bruh, if you have a lawn bigger than 500 sqft don’t use a rake haha that work is exhausting!

[rcud]

I dethatched this year, oh how my grass looks good now. Of course its been fairly rainy last 6 weeks and not to hot. And I did fertilize not long afterwards.

[thedoctajon]

One mistake you left out was leaving the dethatcher outside overnight in the rain.

I'm totally not speaking from experience here.
Definitely didn't just do this yesterday...

[njmikeche]

Another reason to avoid de-thatching after a pre-emergent is that right after dethatching is a great time to put some new seed. There is a pre-emergent called Tenacity (gen. mesotrione) that will allow new turfgrass seeds to germinate but still stops crabgrass and broadleaf weeds.

[privateprivate]

I’m causing a major thatch issue on my front lawn. As there is no power at this house and no gas mower, I’m using a trimmer to cut the lawn. I know it’s bad. But it’s what I can do for now. If I actually live there, I hope to replace the lawn with ground cover next year anyway.

[maggiew]

I use a green works & it is absolutely fabulous.
We have some lawn mowing people around here that use a rake behind a rider & they do a horrible job & it does literally nothing as they whizz around the yard super fast.