On Mon, 05 May 2003 07:07:14 -0700, VF wrote:

We've killed off our front yard as the first step towards putting in a new
yard. Now comes the time to rip out the old grass, and I'm planning on
using a dethatcher (power rake) to do so. However, here in Richmond
there's rain predicted today and pretty much off and on throughout the
week.

Our yard has been brown and ready to go for a couple of weeks, but for
various reasons (long conference, travel) I haven't been able to rip out
the yard 'til now. (I wish I could have done it earlier, but there you
go.)

The question is: can I use the dethatcher effectively in or around times
of rain? Or should I just hold off for yet another week and hope next
week is better? I want to get the seed spread ASAP, and I feel bad for my
neighbors for having to look at my wreck of a lawn.


Well in my personal opinion, if you were going to rent a thatcher,
spraying the lawn was a moot point. Thatching machines remove quite a bit
of lawn after using one. The only reason I would spray the lawn is if
I needed/wanted to change the varity of the grass it's self. Generaly I
take the crapy old mower I have and lower it to the lowest setting and mow
with it's bag on. If it's a small area, I take my string trimmer and scalp
the area. A thatcher will do a better job of it, but the 80+ dollar
rental.. yuck.
It sounds like you waited a good long while to reseed. Expect that many
weed seeds have blown in and they will sprout along with the grass seed
you have laid.........

--
http://yard-works.netfirms.com

Respectfully, I have to disagree. I've dethatched lawns that have *never*
been dethatched previously (40 years plus), and while enormous piles of
thatch come up, close examination revealed no live grass at all. Perhaps
your tines are set to dig too low? Anyway, that's been my experience.

Dave

"Timothy" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 05 May 2003 07:07:14 -0700, VF wrote:

We've killed off our front yard as the first step towards putting in a
new
yard. Now comes the time to rip out the old grass, and I'm planning on
using a dethatcher (power rake) to do so. However, here in Richmond
there's rain predicted today and pretty much off and on throughout the
week.

Our yard has been brown and ready to go for a couple of weeks, but for
various reasons (long conference, travel) I haven't been able to rip out
the yard 'til now. (I wish I could have done it earlier, but there you
go.)

The question is: can I use the dethatcher effectively in or around times
of rain? Or should I just hold off for yet another week and hope next
week is better? I want to get the seed spread ASAP, and I feel bad for
my
neighbors for having to look at my wreck of a lawn.


Well in my personal opinion, if you were going to rent a thatcher,
spraying the lawn was a moot point. Thatching machines remove quite a bit
of lawn after using one. The only reason I would spray the lawn is if
I needed/wanted to change the varity of the grass it's self. Generaly I
take the crapy old mower I have and lower it to the lowest setting and mow
with it's bag on. If it's a small area, I take my string trimmer and scalp
the area. A thatcher will do a better job of it, but the 80+ dollar
rental.. yuck.
It sounds like you waited a good long while to reseed. Expect that many
weed seeds have blown in and they will sprout along with the grass seed
you have laid.........

--
http://yard-works.netfirms.com

On Mon, 05 May 2003 13:46:24 -0400, David J. Bockman wrote:

Respectfully, I have to disagree. I've dethatched lawns that have *never*
been dethatched previously (40 years plus), and while enormous piles of
thatch come up, close examination revealed no live grass at all. Perhaps
your tines are set to dig too low? Anyway, that's been my experience.
sniped

There maybe no grass above the dirt true, but the rhizomes ( if that
varity has them ) will still be left there. They will return with a little
time. When thatching to remove weeds and thatch you don't need to scalp
the lawn all too much. If your trying to change the grass varity, then
spraying is best. These are my experiences with thatching here in the Pnw
at least.

--
http://yard-works.netfirms.com

"Timothy" wrote in message om...

The only reason I would spray the lawn is if
I needed/wanted to change the varity of the grass it's self.

And that's exactly what we're doing, except that we're changing the
variety of "mostly weeds and a little grass" into "all grass." So
everything's got to be killed and removed.

It sounds like you waited a good long while to reseed. Expect that many
weed seeds have blown in and they will sprout along with the grass seed
you have laid.........

It's a possibility, but really we're only about a week outside the
main window, determined by the time that all the growth has become
brown. We'll contend with new weeds as needed--I can't see how it
would be any worse than our previous "lawn"!

--VF

I had more weeds than grass plus lots of grubs. Have rented a sod cutter to
just take it all up. I don't see using a dethatcher if really want to
replace the type of grass. Besides, weed seeds run deeper. As for killing
everything first, that's fine if you don't need to reseed right away. My
local hardware store recommended against killing everything unless I wasn't
replanting anything till late fall. I decided against killing and for the
sod cutter. It's tough work, but hope it will be a healthier front yard in
the end. Good luck with your project.


"VF" wrote in message
m...
"Timothy" wrote in message
om...

The only reason I would spray the lawn is if
I needed/wanted to change the varity of the grass it's self.

And that's exactly what we're doing, except that we're changing the
variety of "mostly weeds and a little grass" into "all grass." So
everything's got to be killed and removed.

It sounds like you waited a good long while to reseed. Expect that many
weed seeds have blown in and they will sprout along with the grass seed
you have laid.........

It's a possibility, but really we're only about a week outside the
main window, determined by the time that all the growth has become
brown. We'll contend with new weeds as needed--I can't see how it
would be any worse than our previous "lawn"!

--VF