You can dethatch with a lawn mower without a dethatcher. In fact, you can dethatch with a lawn mower, but you’ll need special dethatching blades.
Dethatching is recommendable for healthy lawn grass and helps you clean the organic debris and give the grass the chance to take in nutrients, water, and air.
Make sure you dethatch the grass at the right period and replace the blades properly to ensure a smooth process.
Continue reading to learn more about dethatching your lawn with a lawn mower easily.
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Can You Dethatch with a Lawn Mower?
Although dethatching with a lawn mower isn’t impossible, a lawn mower is designed for cutting grass, not removing thatch.
With this in mind, it’s important to know that you can’t get the optimal quality and efficiency from a lawn mower as you can get from a dethatcher or a power rake.
If you don’t have a dethatcher or a power rake, you can rent one and ease the process. Or, another option is to dethatch with a lawn mower.
But, to enable this, you need to make a blade replacement. That is, you’ll need a special dethatching blade. The specialized blades for dethatching for lawn mowers may offer a moderate removal of thatch if you use the adequately.
To ensure maximum dethatching, you need the right type of dethatching blade for the mower.
What Is Dethatching & Why Does It Matter?
Dethatching is an important part of proper lawn maintenance.
Thanks to this process, the turfgrass is kept healthy and dense. Through regular dethatching, you eliminate any dead grass and roots that have gathered over time.
Thatch is a matted layer containing rhizomes, stems, roots, and other organic debris which has a tendency to collect faster than it breaks down. When it’s less than ½ inch thick, it’s a good sign.
This thin layer is good for lower soil compaction and higher tolerance to heat and cold as it keeps the crown safe. Thatch also lowers the loss of water through evaporation. Dethatching needs to be done when the thickness is more than ½ inch.
Dethatching is done with a small machine which is very similar to push lawn mowers. There are also dethatching extensions that are attached to lawn mowers.
A dethatcher or a vertical mower is based on a series of blades that are vertically oriented to cut through the thatch, loosen it, and bring it up to the surface.
The depth of the penetration of the blades, and sometimes the spaces between the blades, can be adjusted to meet the needs and requirements of the lawn.
When Is the Best Time for Dethatching the Lawn?
Dethatching is recommendable when the conditions are optimal. This is important to ensure the best recovery of the grass.
Cool-season lawns should be dethatched in late August to early October, depending on the location.
The grass is growing during this period and only a few weed seeds will germinate. You can speed up your grass’s recovery after the dethatching by applying a light fertilizer and doing a deep and regular watering.
For warm-season lawns, dethatching is recommendable in late spring or early summer, after the lawn is entirely green and the grass is already growing fast.
How to Dethatch without a Dethatcher?
When thatch is higher than ½ an inch, it needs to be dethatched. This is like a thick layer of plastic on top of the soil. It prevents the grass from getting the needed water, air, and nutrients.
Moreover, it can gather disease-causing fungi and insects, encourage prolonged humidity, and bind pesticides.
As the thatch keeps piling on, the grassroots knit into the layer of thatch inside the soil. This makes them prone to environmental stresses like long periods of dry and hot weather.
To dethatch your lawn with a lawn mower, you’ll need to switch the current blade with a dethatching one.
The size of the dethatching blade depends on the deck size of the lawn mower. This is why you need to know the lawn mower’s size prior to deciding on a dethatching blade.
Below, learn about the most important steps for dethatching with a lawn mower:
- Mow the grass
Prior to the dethatching, trim the grass.
This is because the grass’s height influences the final effect of the dethatching. The smaller it is, the better the effect.
Mow the lawn to half of its height. Once the size is set up, you can move to the next step.
- Take out the current blades
Once you’ve trimmed the grass with your lawn mower, remove the cutting blades so that you can set up the blades for dethatching.
Plug out any cables or remove the batteries. Tilt the mower towards the handle end. Prop it with a heavy object.
If you have a riding lawn mower, set the deck at the highest position and use a ramp or a lift to get to the blades.
Don’t forget to remember which side of the blade is on the bottom and which one is on the top.
- Place the dethatching blades
Attach the dethatching blades with the springs faced downwards.
A dethatching blade attachment is very similar to a regular blade. Once you set them up, tighten the bolts and reconnect the cables. Dethatching blades for mowers differ from regular blades which are flatter and slice through grass.
The dethatching ones have metal or plastic projections or spikes which stick out perpendicular to the blade. They cut down into the thatch, similar to a knife, and slice the grass up.
Some blades for dethatching have two tines. One on each side of the blade. But, other blades have more. They’re mostly metal, but sometimes, they can be made of strong plastic.
- Begin the dethatching
Set the mowing height to a slightly higher level than the one for mowing.
Mow as you would with regular blades. The back-and-forth movements help the springs of the blades eliminate the roots and the dead grass.
When you’ve passed the whole lawn several times, lower the deck and proceed once more to eliminate any remaining thatch.
- Put back everything in its place
Remove the dethatching blades once the dethatching is done.
Put back the regular blades. Mow the lawn once again and check it for leftover thatch. You can remove it with a rake.
Gather the thatch and dispose of it in a compost pile or in plastic bags and in the garbage can.
Final Thoughts
Dethatching is an essential part of lawn maintenance. By dethatching the grass, you optimize its health and density and remove organic debris, allowing the grass to breathe and receive vital nutrients.
For best results, it’s recommendable to dethatch with a dethatcher or a power rake; however, if you don’t have any of these two, you can dethatch with a lawn mower too. To do this, you will still need to replace the regular blades with dethatching blades. Although the results may not be as efficient as a dethatcher or a rake, a lawn mower can still be used to dethatch lawns.