"John" wrote:
I'd like to hire a lawn company to take care of my lawn but I seem to be
getting conflicting views from the ones I've talked to. One guy looked
at it and said it needed dethatched. Another who didn't look at it said
they tend not to dethatch because it stresses the lawn too much, they
prefer aeration. I was under the impression that these two treatments
served separate purposes and that each was good for a specific problem.
These guys make it seem like the two choices are alternate methods to
achieve the same goal. My lawn is only two years old (Grown from seed)
and looks great from the street however while mowing I can see many week
spots. Straw was used to cover the seed when it was planted. The straw
was never removed, I was told it would degrade over time. I use a
mulching mower which might add to the thatch along with the straw that
may be remaining. I used a hand rake in one of the week areas and pulled
up a lot of thatch. This leads me to believe that the thatch is indeed a
problem. The question is what is the best way to deal with it? Thanks
very much for any help.

Both will reduce thatch. Aeration does it by bringing soil microbes to
the surface of your thatch layer(in the form of soil plugs).
This accelerates the rotting of the thatch layer. (non-invasive)

Power raking (dethatching) is mechanical removal of live and dead plant
material,and is only needed if your thatch exceeds 1/2 inch. (very
invasive)

Aeration is a good way to mimimize your thatch layer,and reduce soil
compaction.

Mulching doesn't really contribute to your thatch layer, so long as you're
not taking off too much blade at once.

(hope this makes sense)

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