Scarifying & Raking the Lawn

Learn the difference between raking and scarifying a lawn, when to scarify, when to rake, and what kind of rakers and scarifiers to use on the grass

Find out how your lawn produces thatch, why some thatch is good and which grass types produce more or less

If your lawn has straw coloured grass or is soft and springy it might need scarifying or de-thatching. Here is how to check

Lawn scarification is invasive so de-thatch the grass at the right time of year to get fast recovery, less disruption and few weeds

Raking and scarifying damages the grass so gently teasing out the moss or thatch is best. This means repeated passes over the lawn

Raking and dethatching the lawn are quite damaging so help your grass to recover by over sowing or re-seeding and then giving it a feed with fertiliser

Done properly renovation damages the grass so over seed to restore your lawn quickly before weeds and moss invade once again

Over seeding with grass seeds that are different to your existing grass will change the composition of the lawn. Expect a 10 to 20% change each over seeding.

Good soil contact is essential so follow our over sowing procedure to make you lawn better than ever in as short a time as possible

Over sowing, patching, seed age, time and how quickly you need your lawn to be usable will all affect grass seed sowing rates. Read our test for old seed

The kind of scarifying or raking equipment you need will depend on the size of your lawn. Choose from manual, petrol or electric rakers and scarifiers

The finest turf is not only mown frequently but also verticut on a regular basis to improve density and control weeds and weed grasses