How to scarify lawn

How To Scarify Your Lawn

Scarification is one of the main reasons why your lawn looks so well put together. Whether you use a hand tool or a machine, there is a technique to scarifying your lawn that this article will help you understand so you can do it on your own. But first, how many of us really know what scarifying is? We hear it often in some of the other garden talk videos, but what on earth is it really?

What is Scarifying?

Scarifying is the removal of organic matter from around the stem of the grass plant to maintain a healthy growing environment above and below the surface. It tidies up any straggly lateral growth and removes material that is in the form of moss or thatch that prevents good dense grass from growing.

If a lawn is not scarified enough, there is a likelihood that debris will build up and lead to problems. Before you plan to scarify your lawn, there are other spring operations that need to happen for effective scarification. However, Mowing is not included in this, as that should go on regularly regardless of everything. Scarifying will help other lawn operations happen faster and better. You will not have to wait to do any other planned work as scarification leaves the land ready for any kind of gardening, i.e., seeding and top dressing.

How to scarify lawn

When Should you Scarify?

Raking or scarifying your lawn will not be the cleanest process, especially in the short term. You are likely to make a whole mess of it but keep in mind that it is okay if that happens. In the long run, it is going to prove to be a beneficial procedure for your lawn.

However, getting it right and making sure it is effective requires that you have knowledge about the time of year or in what conditions you should scarify. If you don’t, you may cause damage to your healthy grass plants and worsen the problem.

The best way to scarify is according to the ability of your lawn to recover, which means factoring in the warmth, sun, and rain while avoiding cold, heat, or drought. You’re going to need good growing conditions, if you lawn hasn’t shown signs of growing well before, it might not grow well afterwards either. This will just end up making a mess of things and for you to redo almost everything!

You can do light raking and scarify during spring as things are warming up. This is the perfect season for plants to start re-growing, thus having a higher recovery rate in case of any accidents. The heat and dryness of the summer have yet to come, and the snow has just melted off. Take this opportunity to do light de-thatching.

For heavy scarifying, autumn will prove to be the best season as it requires deeper raking, and the scarifying is going to leave the soil exposed in many places. This makes it an ideal place for seed-bed not just for over-seeding with new grass seed but also the weed and weed grass floating around. Choosing august means you’re avoiding the bulk of the years’ weed seeds.

What is a Lawn Scarifier?

Also called a de-thatcher, a lawn scarifier is a garden tool designed to cut through the soil, helping remove dead moss and other debris like grass cuttings. You can opt for a manual or automatic option for the cutting action. The machine also helps aerate the soil, making it healthier, removing most of the weed, and allowing it last longer.

How to use one?

As discussed above, after you have determined the time to scarify your lawn, inspect it for any live moss or debris. If you do need to get rid of moss or debris, do so before anything else. Use a moss killer, spread it all over your lawn, and wait for it to act as per the instructions on the bottle.

You cannot scarify your lawn without this step as you might spread airborne spores of living moss all over the garden making all your efforts of scarifying go to waste.

Mow on a low setting

After you see that the moss has turned black or brown, which indicates that it is now dead, mow your lawn on a dry day with the mower on a low setting. Why? Because using the mower before the lawn scarifier will mean you can collect the cut grass simultaneously at the end of your job before it has time to harm.

Scarify on high setting

Start scarifying with a high setting and go over the surface a few times. Repeat this process at all angles but keep reducing the setting after each pass.

How to scarify by hand?

If you do not have a powered machine and are using a springbok rake or a hand scarifier to get the job done, remember to be gentle so there is little to no damage. It will be more difficult for you to de-thatch blades with the wire tines of a rake. However, regardless the best course of action is going slow, so it recovers quicker.

Go up and down the lawn, gently teasing out the thatch with your rake. After doing so, collect the debris. After you’ve gone around the lawn, once you assess how much you removed in the first pass, looking at that, you can go a little deeper with your rake. Do the second pass at a 45-degree angle from the first pass, so you go diagonally across the lawn.

The most of debris by the last pass has already come loose. On your last pass, use the blades to cut into the soil quarter of an inch deep. This makes for a perfect bed to lay new grass seeds in and great for gardening after you have scarified.

Learning how to scarify a lawn is about more than acquainting yourself with the equipment; rather, the conditions under which you ought to scarify matter just as much. Moreover, how much you can actually scarify without damaging your lawn completely.

 

 

Share this post

Share on facebook
Share on email