Mow Lawn After Dethatching: 5 Tips for Faster Growth

Aside from regular grass care, homeowners also need to take care of the dethatching process in order to make sure their lawn has a lush appearance.

After pries, pulls and loose debris is collected from a lawn, it is best to mow back over the turf, lightly if necessary, to get grass blades growing in the same direction. This will help encourage fresh growth and prevent weeds from growing back.

However, mowing too early, or during cool weather, will encourage grass to go dormant and not grow back at all.

This article will go through detailed instructions on how to properly mow the lawn after a healthy dethatching process.

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What do I do after I dethatch my lawn?

Traumatic experiences like dethatching the lawn can leave grass plants battered, dry and vulnerable to disease.

A significant amount of dethatching will be necessary to get a lush, healthy lawn. As a result, lawn care after dethatching is essential to a turf’s successful recovery.

Root repair and deep growth are necessary to restore and maintain turf quality.

A healthy root system is a key component of a cation exchangeable, pampered, vigorous turf.

You may have just completed a project: dethatching your lawn.

The following are some thoughts on what you could do next with your newly cleaned up lawn:

aerate compacted soil to improve water penetration
overseed your lawn to fill in bare patches (Read More: Can Grass Seed Burn Your Lawn? How To Prevent Dead Patches)
apply fertilizer to boost your grass’s health and beauty
keep the weeds out by using a pre-emergent weed killer
rake up leftover dethatching material

Can you mow the lawn after dethatching?

Newly exposed thatch is an excellent food source for weeds, so in many cases removing the thatch will encourage new grass to grow and prevent weed growth.

This is particularly important in turfgrass.

Remove the thatch, then mow the lawn with a sharp blade to eliminate emerging weeds before they can establish in the lawn.

Cutting the lawn short is effective in cleaning up an overgrown lawn after the accumulated thatch has been removed.

Plus, proper mowing promotes good turfgrass health by stimulating new growth, which helps fill in thin spots and provide good coverage.

One thing that should not be done after dethatching is to leave the grass clippings on the lawn.

In essence, when the clippings are not removed, they can build up and smother or choke the grass.

Efficiently remove clippings with a lawn mower equipped with a bagger attachment.

Find Out: What Is a Recycler Lawn Mower?

Should you water your lawn after dethatching?

Thorough deep drenching at the first sign of desiccation or drought is a no-brainer in most landscapes.

Consistent moisture is the key for attracting root growth and other beneficial plant activity.

Unlike frequent shallow sprinkling, which only goes a few inches deep and has limited utility, a persistent full-watering compensates for the moisture shortfalls that result after overaccumulation of thatch and the subsequent extensive landscape dethatching that leaves part of the lawn bare.

Your grass will need the healing power of water to replenish a dormant lawn’s vital reserves and recover from the shock of intense physical and chemical actions.

Enough rain will do it if the water capacity of the soil is high enough.

But it’s more likely that your well-functioning biological system will benefit more from an intentional and direct lawn watering than from an uncertain rainy day.

How long does it take for a lawn to recover from dethatching?

The healing process can take 3 to 4 weeks, and you must be patient until the lawn is restored.

Keep in mind that the grass will be different in texture, color and density after mowing.

It is best to wait until healthy grass is established before scheduling any activities on the lawn.

Dethatching as a process, is rather disruptive to the lawn’s natural rhythm.

Ripping, tearing and removing the dense underlayer of thatch is bound to make your lawn more likely to experience a shock or trauma due to the abrupt void of so much dead leaves, rhizomes, stolons and roots.

So be gentle with your lawn during this time and don’t be in a rush to do any recreational, athletic, or construction activities on your lawn until it is fully restored.

Postponing any such events not only ensures the grass bounces back better and quicker, it also avoids overburdening and ruining your turfgrass.

What do you do with the thatch after dethatching?

After you have dethatched your lawn and spread the straw, you should rake it into piles.

You can use a composting process to decompose the thatch, which will allow nutrients from the grass roots to be fed back into your soil.

Cleaning up thatch from your lawn will require using a special equipment that you can rent or buy:

Safety gears (Gloves, shoes & glasses)
Trash bag
Lawn Rakes
Leaf blowers
Leaf sweepers
Lawn vacuum
Lawnmower

The collected thatch can be added to compost piles, and eventually broken down into mulch.

Storing thatch in piles lets you reduce landfill but it’s also a good way of recycling it.

The following ideas are some ways to keep the thatch from getting blown away:

Use a shed
Keep a pile of thatch under a tarp
Use a lawn bag for piling thatch for storage
Place piles of thatch deep into the garden in a compost heap
Preserve piles of thatch in barrels
Place a tarp beneath newly mown grass to help delay evaporation and keep thatch where it belongs.
Lay a tarp over newly mown grass and thatch