Raking vs. Scarifying the Lawn
Rolling Lawn Scarifier
Scarifying with blades
Scarifying blades
Raking with wires
Wire tines
Rolling Lawn Scarifier & Raker
*The above Lawn Aeration Equipment & Scarifier Raker products are available in the Lawnsmith Shop and discussed below:
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Scarifying or de-thatching the lawn
Lawn scarifiers use steel blades to cut out thatch; hence it is also known as de-thatching. In machines these will rotate whilst manual tools like the lawn scarifier* above will not.
Lawn thatch by its very nature is removed more easily by this cutting action and the result is a firmer lawn that allows the passage of air, nutrients and water easily into it. Take scarifying a step further by letting the scarifier blades cut into the soil and you will open the soil surface and make an ideal seed bed for introducing new grass seed to your lawn.
The blades also ‘prune’ the grass plants because it cuts them downwards rather than cross cutting as in mowing. This pruning, just like pruning a bush or plant causes extra shoots to grow thus thickening the turf.
The ‘chopping’ action is also a good way of controlling some of the coarser or delicate weed grasses such as Yorkshire Fog and Annual Meadow Grass. It can also help control creeping weeds such as speedwell and trefoils (yellow suckling clover).
Raking or de-mossing the lawn
Whereas scarifiers use blade tines, rakes use wire tines just like on a fan or spring-bok lawn rake.
Wires are best for raking because moss is not rooted and comes away quite easily. This means pulling or ripping the moss out rather than cutting it out is best. Wires are also best for giving the lawn a light raking after a drought to clear dead brown grass that has accumulated.
The wires on some machines are often on a flail system; in other words they are not fixed or rigid but swivel around a central axle. This means if they hit anything hard they just flick out of the way. Consequently flail wires are excellent for moss removal without too much lawn damage. Smaller raking machines have quite thin wires that are quite flexible thereby reducing damage.
If you intend to rake the lawn by hand this can be quite exhausting because the rake needs a lot of pressure to work which in turn increases resistance and friction. You will find the rolling lawn scarifier* is ten times easier to use being excellent for both moss and thatch.
