Atwood LawnCare

Q: Should I Power Rake (De-thatch) My Lawn?

We do not recommend at you power rake or "de-thatch" your lawn. Power raking pulls as much or more good healthy grass out of the lawn along with the brown blades. This sets a lawn back several weeks from normal development. All those brown blades are not thatch, either! Those blades will decompose all by themselves in 6-8 weeks. Thatch is an underground network of roots, rhizomes, and blades that form a dense mat. The only way power raking will remove real thatch is to set the machine all the way down to the soil and remove all of your lawn.
Core Aeration is often suggested as an alternative to power raking or "de-thatching".