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Re: Lawn aerators/dethatchers

I suppose that technically, core aerators do compress the soil at the bottom
of the core hole some, because it takes some force to dirve the core drill
in.  But  both the side walls and the bottom of the hole are able to
promptly expand, and the side-wall expansion is exactly what aeration is
trying to accomplish.  The critters I take exception to are the "aerators"
that just punch a hole in the ground with a solid tooth, and do not remove a
plug.  They just make compaction worse.



At 10:02 PM 10/5/97 -0700, you wrote:
>>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
>
>+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
>Nan Sterman, "gardening addict"
>Olivenhain, California
>Sunset Zone 24, USDA Zone 10b or 11
>+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
>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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