After a long winter and wet spring, water-logged yards begin to dry out and that’s a great time to prepare your lawn for summer. Following is some basic advice and equipment you can use to rejuvenate your lawn.  Luckily, simple problems such as thatch, bare spots and soil compaction are easily solved with a power-rake (de-thatcher or thatcher), over seeder and aerator, while proper fertilization, mowing, watering, and drainage control typically resolves the other issues.
 
Many lawns suffer from compacted soil and thatch, a combination which prevents water, nutrients, and oxygen from reaching the grass roots.   Core aeration is the best way to solve this compaction problem.  These professional units have a closed tine that actually withdraws a small core of soil and deposits it on top of your lawn’s thatch layer.  These cores of soil actually help your lawn’s thatch layer deteriorate into top soil.  Also the small holes give your existing grass roots the much needed room to once again grow and breathe, and they allow fertilizers to get to the root layer, giving you a lush healthy lawn.  Core Aerators are available for rent both self-propelled and towable models.

Thatch is a dense layer of grass clippings, dead and growing roots and stems that builds up on your lawn between the soil surface and the zone of green vegetation.  Thatch absorbs water and nutrients, and the roots of the grass are drawn up rather than penetrating into the soil.  On established lawns, excess thatch prevents water, nutrients, and oxygen from reaching the roots of turf grass and therefore contributes to most of the problems of poor lawns.  Thatch also reduces the effectiveness of pesticides and creates an ideal environment for insects and lawn diseases.  By periodically removing this layer of thatch you can greatly improve the lawn’s health and appearance.  To remove heavy thatch the best machine to rent is a Power Rake, (de-thatcher or thatcher).  Power Rakes have a reel of free swinging flails that, if set to the proper depth will pull the layer up to the surface where it can easily be removed by hand raking, vacuuming with a yard vacuuming, or using your catcher on your lawn mower.  Removing the excessive thatch will then expose the bare ground you can then prepare for seeding.

Reseeding your lawn successfully depends upon proper soil preparation.  This can be done by renting an Over seeder (slicer seeder, lawn slicer).  Lawn over Seeders will put ¼ inch grooves in the soil and drop the seed into the grooves made by the slicer blades.  Remember not to go deeper than the recommended ¼ inch, while grass has to be in the soil to germinate, burying it too deep will keep it from coming up and will probably damage the belts and blades of the machine.  The lawn seeder drops a precisely measured amount of seed which is then incorporated into the soil.  Your seed with proper watering will sprout in 7 to 14 days.  Over Seeder are available in push or self-propelled models.

A thick, lush, healthy lawn doesn’t happen by accident.  It is the result of proper amounts of water, fertilizer, sunshine, and regular aeration, power raking, and over seeding.  Taylor Rental can help.