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Re: Lawn aerators/dethatchers

>I agree that thatch is a vastly over-rated "problem".  It is the
>accumulation of tough old stems and rhizomes that don't breakdown readily.
>The best cure for it, if it has built up to more than a half inch (you would
>have to check in a few places), is to use a core aerator.  It cuts and
>removes a plug of soil about a 1/4" in diameter and 2" long from the turf.
>That allows the soil to expand and de-compact, and the microbes in the soil
>plug break down the thatch.  I am of the opinion that tine "aerators do more
>harm than good.  Yes, they make a hole, but by compressing the soil around
>it even more.  And the dethatchers can do a fair amount of damage to the
>turf and make a major mess, but unless you remove the organic material
>ripped up with a rake, you still have in on the lawn.

Yes, I was talking with a local agronomist a few weeks back and he also
believes that thatch is not really a problem and emphasized that the
problem with aerators is that they the soil just below the plug you remove,
thus compounding the problem!

Nan

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Nan Sterman, "gardening addict"
Olivenhain, California
Sunset Zone 24, USDA Zone 10b or 11
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So goes an old chinese proverb:
         If you want to be happy for a few hours, get drunk;
         If you want to be happy for a week-end get married;
         If you want to be happy for a week, barbeque a pig;
         If you want to be happy all your life long become a gardener 


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