Lawn renovation and thatch issue

Hi all,

I'm making an attempt at renovating our lawn which was moss ridden. What I've done so far:
-Scarify with spring tined rake
-applied iron sulphate
-scarify again (spring tined rake)

This has removed most of the living moss, however what we're now left with is a layer of thatch that is masking the soil (I wanted to overseed). You'll see in the photos, but in order to reveal the soil I used a landscaping rake to pull up the thatch more aggressively in a small area, unfortunately this also brings up most of the grass too as the grass is not well rooted to the soil and is so intertwined with the thatch.

At this stage I'm wondering what to do. I either have to pull up all the grass via this process and start again to seed the lawn but then not know it will germinate or decide to live with the thatch-at least we got the living moss out.. and maybe overseed anyway not expecting much as the soil is still mostly hidden. I already bought seed and lawn feed. Any thoughts? I'm sure many people have been faced with this conundrum. Thanks for the help.

 

An ordinary rake is no use for removing the thatch you've already loosened with the spring tine rake - it's too rough. The plastic type for raking leaves is best.
However, all you can do is remove it as best you can- maybe by hand if you don't have a leaf rake, and you can then add seed, mixed with some soil/compost, and spread that on the bare areas - wetaher permitting. Make sure it has good contact with the exisiting soil.
It also pays to broadcast some seed over the whole area to get it to blend in well, unless you have the same seed that the rest of the grass is sown with.

 

Hi Fairygirl,

Thanks for the advice, It's very tough to remove, to the point the spring tined rake is not tough enough therefore assume a plastic leaf rake wouldn't be either and no way I can do the whole lawn by hand. Thats why I moved to landscape rake. The main concern is if we pull it all up put down more soil/compost and seed doesn't germinate then we've got a lawn of mud. The idea was to try to manage the miss and overseed but not sure that's an option due to extent of thatch.

 

Re-turfing it might be less of a gamble just didn't think we'd have to go to those lengths

 

You can hire machines which will take out the thatch. I've never used them, as I can't really be bothered with that for a small lawn, but I believe they're easily available, and do a good job.
The spring tine rake should take out the thatch quite readily, so perhaps you're trying too hard to get it out, and taking rooted grass out as well. If you don't use a grass box when cutting, that can also leave too much grass in the lawn which then builds up.
I never leave the box off, unless it's very dry, and I'm only taking off a tiny amount - which is quite rare.

 

The problem you have is the grass has rooted into the thatch layer , its quite a common problem with lawns that use 4-1 weed and feed or high fescue lawns. You need a machine really with blade attachments ( more aggressive ) to cut it out not a spring tined scarifier which are just a powered rake really, you can even get dethatcher attachments for certain machines. You are going to rip quite a bit of grass out its evitable . Screwfix do a little webb one for £300 but I'd hire one this time its cost around £60 and they usually have heavy camon scarifiers but a eliet one if available would be more manageable for less experienced users

 

That's great to give that advice @Perki . I never do anything much other than using the spring tine rake. I only have a small lawn though.
Hopefully that'll do the trick for @Mattyp - and much cheaper than re turfing!

 

Thank you both. Yes a machine would make it easier I'm sure. I'm just not sure I have the confidence to do that to the lawn and hope that the reseeding works, surely it's a gamble. I'm talking myself out of it I know but the scale of the job has gone up somewhat. No one can guarantee the seed will take I know, so it's up to us to decide.

 

I once used a petrol Mantis to remove moss and thatch. Worked very well but it was odd as you have to walk backwards. Filled a dozen rubbish bags and yes the grass looked a bit bare but soon recovered.