What time and order to roll, aerate and dethatch my yard?

[The_Eric]

I recently bought a roller to mash down all the mole tunnels and help smooth out our rough yard - I pulled it around yesterday prior to mowing. That got me thinking how little I know about taking care of my yard.. Last year I bought a pull behind plug aerator and dethatcher but didn't use them because moles...

There's little doubt that I'm going to need to roll my yard several more times, but when should I aerate and dethach? Also we're going to be spraying for Creeping Charlie - should that be considered as well?

 

[iahawk]

most effective time to kill Charlie is in the Fall with 2 chemical applications about 3 weeks apart. Triclopyr is the active most recommended. You can also hit it in the Spring.

Differing opinions on whether dethatching and aeration are needed. In heavily (think construction equipment) compacted areas, yes, aeration is needed but for home lawns you typically can't get deep enough aeration (4" is ideal) or enough plugs per square foot to make much of a difference.

You may want to visit lawn care forums for a deep, deep dive down the rabbit hole.

 

[The_Eric]

Our plan is a spring application of Triclopyr and a fall application - perhaps 2 fall applications now that you mentioned it.

Diving down the lawn care site rabbit hole - I was hoping to avoid that mess

 

[BHopkins]

Why do you think your lawn needs to be dethatched? From everything I have learned on lawn care, few lawns actually need to be dethatched, and the process actually damages the lawn

I am a proponent of aeration, though, and have my lawn done every spring. It seems that my lawn is healthier for it.

 

[Jango]

My yard is a small 1000 square feet rectangular hybrid bermuda that is just coming out of dormancy. I recently aerated it in a checkerboard pattern of the 10 square areas to try to determine if it makes a difference. It is very low traffic. I will report back later.

 

[The_Eric]

Why do you think your lawn needs to be dethatched? From everything I have learned on lawn care, few lawns actually need to be dethatched, and the process actually damages the lawn

I am a proponent of aeration, though, and have my lawn done every spring. It seems that my lawn is healthier for it.

No reason other than I assumed that it was beneficial from reading comments and listening to others talk.

 

[Jango]

A lawn guy who does a lot of videos says don't dethatch stolon grass lawns like Bermuda and St. Augustine that grow with runners. You are killing the stolons by doing that. Instead, you scalp it at beginning of season and mow it low enough the rest of the year so that thatch build up is not a problem. He is big proponent of aeration.

 

[The_Eric]

I wonder if it's too late to butch it this year? I've already mowed twice. Do I need to pick up the clippings afterwards?

 

[shortyb]

I wonder if it's too late to butch it this year? I've already mowed twice. Do I need to pick up the clippings afterwards?

Being in Iowa, what kind of grass is it? If cool season like a fescue, you shouldn't aerate right now going into really hot weather. Late summer, early fall is best when the grass greens up again after being stressed. Scalping doesn't benefit a cool season grass as it does a warm season grass and if you did it now, the root system would be exposed to high sun and high temps. Not so good for cool season stuff. Thatch could be a problem if you let it get too high (>4") and don't pick up the clippings. Grass clipping if they were mulched, will decompose when the night temps don't drop below 50F. If they were just cut and discharged, they could build a thatch layer. If this is you, collect the clippings. Get down to the ground and inspect the boundry layer down there. Can you see root bundles or is there a maze of dead grass surrounding them? If it's thatch, rake it out. Best time is right before active growing of your grass type. Aerate afterwards. You can basically roll your lawn anytime, just make sure the ground has moisture, but not saturated or soggy. If you have moles, get some milky spore or Grub-X to kill the food supply of those critters. They will move on and build tunnels in your neighbor's yard .

 

[The_Eric]

Being in Iowa, what kind of grass is it? If cool season like a fescue, you shouldn't aerate right now going into really hot weather. Late summer, early fall is best when the grass greens up again after being stressed. Scalping doesn't benefit a cool season grass as it does a warm season grass and if you did it now, the root system would be exposed to high sun and high temps. Not so good for cool season stuff. Thatch could be a problem if you let it get too high (>4") and don't pick up the clippings. Grass clipping if they were mulched, will decompose when the night temps don't drop below 50F. If they were just cut and discharged, they could build a thatch layer. If this is you, collect the clippings. Get down to the ground and inspect the boundry layer down there. Can you see root bundles or is there a maze of dead grass surrounding them? If it's thatch, rake it out. Best time is right before active growing of your grass type. Aerate afterwards. You can basically roll your lawn anytime, just make sure the ground has moisture, but not saturated or soggy. If you have moles, get some milky spore or Grub-X to kill the food supply of those critters. They will move on and build tunnels in your neighbor's yard .

It's a mix of grasses - fescue for sure and some other grasses, like (I think) bluegrass as well as rye. I tend to cut the yard to 3.5" and especially in the spring months when it's growing super fast, we can get quite a bit of clippings on top of the yard. I suppose the answer would be to mow once mid week in addition to the usual weekend routine? Should I look for a clippings sweeper? As for the thatch, I'll see about getting a pic of it as I'd like some input. And for the moles, I have numerous traps that I'm going to deploy.. and yeah, I'm pretty sure that the neighbors are to blame.. We mow their yard too and have noticed that their yard (or a portion of it) is really torn up. They have tons of apple and pear trees (maybe others too) and when they're fruiting, they will pick a small amount and let the rest fall to the ground which brings all the critters and creepy crawlies to the yard.

 

[UGASpike]

I have Bermuda, and the month of April has been rough due to rainfall and drought conditions here in Georgia... It is actually raining now for the first time since mid-March.

We are still greening up here, so I took my little dethatch rake and manual plugger and will go section by section over the next month or so to knock out my yard (roughly 2k sqft). I am young and too lazy to pay someone to do it, plus I need the exercise LOL.

 

[AdmiralYoda]

Lawn nut here. Generally rolling isn't the best for the lawn as it will tend to compact things. Might not be enough to matter but still. But moles are worse so do what you gotta do. Any other ways to get rid of the moles?

De-thatch in the spring but that probably really isn't a problem. Unless your grass is struggling because there is a large dead root mass under it you are probably good.

No real need to aerate in the spring unless you have some really dense compacted soil. The winter freeze/thaw cycle loosens up the soil just fine. Aerate in the early fall before fertilizing.