What I did on my rotary mower is put a thatching blade on it. The thatching blade tears up all the dead grass. Makes a dusty mess though but its easier than raking.
The thatching blade I got used a couple of springs that dragged on the lawn. Those didn't last very long. There were some holes in the blade so I mounted some hardened bolts on the blade with locknuts. The bolts extended an inch or so below the blade and did the job of tearing all the old grass and matting out. That lasted a lot longer than the original springs. You have to tighten the bolts with lock washers, very tight. If they got launched they would do some damage.
This is what the thatching blade looked like:
http://www.amazon.com/ACE-UNIVERSAL-DE-THATCHING-BLADE-KIT/dp/B000H5Y7SO
I found it in a home improvement store in the 90's. Not sure what might be available now.
Different areas are going to have different problems with ground compaction. A soil that has a high clay content is going to harden like cement. If you have a soil that is easier to dig in you may not have much problem. Water and root penetration is easier with looser soils. Water for a 10 minutes then wait an hour, then water another 10 minutes. Give it a chance to soak in, compacted soils tend to runoff water more than they absorb.
After you de-thatch, soak it deep. If the water doesn't absorb you may need to rototill and amend the soil with sand and composted soil amendments. That is where it becomes not so easy.
I went through all that many years ago but then we started having water crisis's. I ended up turning the sprinklers off and have had no lawn in the past several years. The water bill is a lot lower now. New lawns are easy enough to start up but they require constant attention and watering once they're started. Since the failed economy that lawn status has fallen by the wayside, survival is more important.
Steve
On 1/28/2012 11:34 AM, subprong wrote:
Thank you, Ande. I'll do that. Should I do a light rake to simply move the off of the ground, or should I rake with force trying to pull the brown grass and roots out?
On Sat, Jan 28, 2012 at 11:04 AM, westande <westande@gmail.com> wrote:
Yes indeed rake it up! Aerating your lawn is always a good idea. If your lawn is matted it will indeed choke out new seedlings/growth from emerging. You can use a heavy steel rake to break up the mats and to go for broke you can also rent an aerator to take plugs out of the lawn. Leaving matted ground cover down year after year is not good for any lawn.
Ande
Who wishes she had more time for her gardening
--- In DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com, subprong <subprong@...> wrote:
>
> We had a big drought over the summer which caused the grass to turn brown
> which is pretty much par for the course anyway. However in the fall when
> it rained it poured. Several times. Flooding. This caused the brown
> grass to flatten and it's pretty much matted to the ground. I'm wondering
> if this will inhibit fresh spring grass from popping up. Should I rake
> over it to break it up or will pulling up and out the roots cause more
> damage? Or will things pop up on their own just fine naturally? Any
> ideas. Thx.
>
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