Using a Scarifier on your garden lawn

For any sized garden, scarifying is important to maintain the quality of you lawn. Essentially, scarifying your lawn entails removing the dead material that gathers around the base of the grass shoots. This material is primarily grass cuttings and dead leaves etc.. Using a garden scarifier will help to keep this down.

As all gardeners know, dead material is good for the garden and can be rotted down for use in following years. This can be of great benefit to your garden. However, the thatch that gathers on your lawn does so because the material is gathering quicker than it can decay. Scarifying your lawn keeps the build up at bay. It may be that the grass type is particularly tough, making decomposition slow. It may also be that your lawn mower is not collecting enough of the cuttings.

When your lawn is carrying around 1 - 1.5cm of thatch, you should use a garden scarifier to reduce the quantity. It improves the soil and grass condition by letting water and air through, but also helps prevent disease which will damage your lawn.

A power scarifier will make the task considerably easier and quicker, particularly is your lawn is medium sized or large. Some models have a grass box collecting the thatch up from the lawn as you go.

Finally, before using a garden scarifier, make sure there is no moss on your lawn. The scarifier will simply spread the moss. If necessary, treat the moss, and then return with the scarifier.