Pros and cons of dethatching lawn

Not all lawns need dethatching, but when your lawn does need it, knowing how to dethatch your lawn is crucial to its future. Done properly, dethatching helps restore your lawn to health and keep it beautiful in years to come.

By learning why, when and how to dethatch, you can keep your thick, lush grass on track. These lawn dethatching basics can help understand:

What is Thatch?

If you've ever seen a cross-section of soil and grass roots, you've seen the layer of organic debris known as thatch.

A mix of dead and living plant material, thatch forms at the base of grass plants, where stems meet roots and soil.

What to do after dethatching lawn

Some organic matter, such as small grass clippings or mulched leaves, break down quickly in healthy lawns, but other materials take much longer to decompose. When buildup outpaces breakdown, your lawn's thatch layer grows thicker.

A thin thatch layer, less than 1/2-inch thick, is beneficial to lawn health.1 It acts as an organic mulch to help conserve soil moisture and protect against big fluctuations in soil temperatures.

A thin tha

when should i dethatch lawn

when should i dethatch my lawn in minnesota