I've been obsessed with my lawn for about 8 months now and this is by far the best video on RUclips about scarifying, dethatching, raking etc, and I've watched hundreds of videos haha I hired a scarifier and it created and the lines and grooves in my soil and I thought I was doing it wrong but after watching this video I was doing it right
Hey Alex, thank you very much for this comment, means alot to me and I am very glad you found the video helpful. Ofc WE do it the right way while others do it wrong 😁😂Thanks for the support, appreciate it dude.
Thank you for the video. It helped clarify for those of use that are not in this industry. And, thank you for being one that fights for proper communication and terminology. Too many people don't take the time to be accurate in their statements. Anyone that says you are being inflexible about the terminology is part of the major communication problem we see these days (in my opinion). Stand your ground. You are not alone. :) Thanks again, from a technology "ranter".
Hey man, thanks a lot! I agree, so many people just throw around terms without actually being sure, which just confuses people, in this case it even comes from the manufacturers, which to me is very strange. Thanks for watching dude, appreciate it 🙏
Great video, but I think there is still some grey area here. You’re absolutely right, thatch is the spongey layer of partially decomposed organic material underneath your grass, not the dead grass on top. However, this spongey layer is made up of roots, rhizomes AND dead grass. So when you’re power raking, you’re not technically de-thatching, but you are effectively (in theory) helping to PREVENT some portion of thatch buildup. The hay that comes off the top after power raking is not thatch, but it will lead to eventual thatch buildup, and why people refer to the removal of this layer as “de-thatching”. This is where the confusion comes from I think.
Hey mate, 100% agree, thought about that afterwards, that might be the cause of the confusion for sure, since I fully agree that the dead grass is what will contribute to the thatch build up. I plan to do a follow up and also add verticutting in the comparison. Will definitely mention this aspect. Thanks for pointing this out and for dropping by dude
Agreed. The lawn rake will help break down the thatch layer in time with repeated treatments. Same with a verticutter. I work on grass tennis courts where scarifying is only possible at the end of season but the wire tines are definitely helping to improve the levels of thatch that had developed over many years.
Your definition of a power rake is spot on. I have two large red oak trees in the front yard that are a royal pain to rake by hand. And, I rake leaves four or five times during the fall season (raking time is nearly upon us). You are truly the ONLY one (on RUclips) who has dared to define and clarify that the attachment with tines serves as a power rake and only as a power rake. I have oftentimes considered doing a RUclips with this scenario: these are leaves; this is a power rake. Observe the power rake as it rakes up the leaves. Many thanks for this vid, Sam.
Wow thanks man, can't tell you how glad this comment made me, really appreciate it. Glad you agree with me, hopefully more people realize how to use the right attachment for the job 😁🙏
I actually had leaves last year that I did not get off the ground using just the blower and vacuum shredder. So I will actually try the "power raker" (that I've always called a dethatcher) now to actually RAKE up those leaves! Awesome. I was wondering how I was going to get rid of those leaves since I have a secret promise to myself to never use a manual rake again.
im totally new to this and everyone keeps saying dethatch and then scarify.. i started watching other video and someone said their biggest mistake was not scarifying first then using the rake tool for cleanup. this makes so much more sense to me now. Thanks!
Finally, NOW I know the Difference and can stop watching videos on How to do What. I Dethach and then I use my power raker. Dethatcher and Raker. That's what I'll call it from now on! Great Video and thank you for Explaining it -or- better known as Dethaching our Terminology!!
Thanks mate, really glad you found it helpful, I was just as confused a couple of years ago, but this is at least my take on it and I'm stickning to it :) Appreciate you dropping by
Hit the nail on the head Sam, some people try to use the terms interchangeably and don't really understand the benefits or reasons for the different processes.
Today, right before it started raining, I De-Thatched the Front and Back lawns. Then I switched out the De-Thacher and installed the Rake-thing-a-bob and commenced to power-rack both lawns. After an hour of doing that, which didn't work for beans. So....I got out my Robi Power Leaf Blower and made a 5ft tall Thatch Swamp Monster, Then I went to my Mancave to get me a Beer and what do I find, nothing but Sprite, Coke, Pepsi and Rootbeer. Now off to the store! Thanks so much Mate!!
haha sounds like a really busy day dude, but it does feel nice once you are done though :) If you get a lot of thatch, then for sure the power rake will struggle, at least these home made ones, just not powerful enough. I would go for the rootbeer, always seen them in movies but never tried it, it looks tasty, not sure if they even sell them in Sweden :)
A landscaper told me I needed to power rake my lawn. I actually needed both. I found I had two inches at least of thatch. I purchased a Sun Joe. It works because I don’t have a huge lot. Lawn looks great after seeding and fertilizer from last Fall to this Spring.
Hey Kimberly, I have issues with thatch too, so I usually scarify and then power rake afterwards and I think these machines work awesome for normal homeowners, nothing more fancy is needed. Glad your lawn is looking great, keep it up! :)
You exactly right, Did my grass 3 weeks ago and it looks amazing now with a premium fertilizer,It might look bad for a few weeks but it comes back amazing.
Thanks for the heads up. Bought the Sun Joe and my first thought was "that's not going to dethatch anything". Then a review on Amazon said the exact same thing you said. You've confirmed my suspicions.
I spend hours looking for this distinct answer!!! Yes finally!! Thank you so much! I just got my sun joe today and wanted to make sure of steps to take but my goodness the most simplest question i could not find and ANSWER TO!! Till now! Thank u so much! One more question though does my ground need to be dry or can lawn be moist to dethatch? Ive been watering a little so it is moist. Should i wait for it to dry? Please and thank u!
Hi Olivia, thank you very much, glad you found it helpful. I was right were you are a couple of years ago, had no idea and couldn't find any answers. You can dethatch when it's wet out, however depending on how wet it is you might end up making a muddy mess, I would wait until it's a bit dry to do it. Also makes the picking up debris alot easier. Thanks again for watching appreciate it 🙏
Sam, excellent take on the subject. It boggles my mind how many folks love to critique just for the sake of doing so. Information was given and received. Great job.
I thought it was just me confused but at last someone explains the difference and what they are for , I have both and people call them different things and what they do but now thanks to you Sam I know what to do with each one Thank you again for explaining and educating me. Take care
The lawn care industry is a mirror of the pool industry. Same words, yet 100s of definitions and opinions that confuse people. Then they end up spending $1000 and 3 months trying to clear up a 15,000 gallon pool when I can do it for $40 in chemicals in 3 days. Great video!!
@@SamsLawn You can use a power rake for thatch and moss removal after the moss has been sprayed and has died of. Also there are a few different blade types you can get.
@@zarrow50 Hey Clive, precisely, important part is to treat the moss and not just use the power rake and think it will be enough, you will end up spreading it more. But agree, if you treat it then you can use the power rake to take it away after :)
This is hands down the best video I have watched so far. In the Netherlands (where I am from) they only have ONE word "verticuteren". And they use it for all the differtent applications. Dethatch, verticut, scarify, etc. they are all translated to Verticuteren and thus companies name there tools verticuteer machine. It is so confusing to me. While they all do something different.
Hey mate, thank you very much, so glad to hear you like the video! It's the same in Swedish actually, our word for verticutting and scarifying is the same, we don't even have a word for de-thatching, makes it all very confusing. Hopefully it's a bit clearer now. Thanks again mate.
Thank you so much Sam for clarifying. I have just spent 3 hrs using my electric lawn rake thinking I was getting rid of the moss. When I first got my lawn mower I put it on the lowest setting because I didn't want to mow the lawn every weekend. Then I realised that the lower I cut the grass the more moss grows. NOW I can't get the handle to move back to a higher setting - it's completely stuck. I am now going to watch a video on overseeding to get rid of the bald patches and try to thicken and green up my lawn. Wish me luck!☺
Hi! Glad you found the video helpful. These electric rakes are actually awesome for clearing the moss but if you don´t treat the moss with some iron or something it will just spread it even more unfortunately. Overseeding is so much fun, good luck and keep me posted on the progress 😊 Thanks for dropping by, appreciate it 🙏
@@primroseseven2850 Attaching photos to the comments doesn´t work unfortunately :( you can always reach out to me through Instagram, I would love to see how your lawn looks!
Hey John, thanks so much, glad you found value in the video, I think 99% of people just want a decent lawn, most channels aim for the golf course look but that's not for me, so hopefully I can show people how to get a decent lawn without devoting their entire life to it :)
Your approach to explaining power rake is better than all the other videos I've taken time to listen to. Thank you for clarifying POWER Raking and Detaching.
Absolutely. Ultimately it's a terminology problem that needs to be fixed. A lot of people use the term "thatch" to reference lawn debris. Sadly, like a lot of things, once a term is engrained in our vocabulary it's hard to fix it. People still call the metallic foil you use to wrap things "tin foil" even though it hasn't been made from tin since WWII.
Yep, agree Ed, good point. Hopefully the rest of the lawn care community can jump in and change it. However, I have seen alot of videos where they still make the same "mistake". I just need to get a couple of million views and then problem solved 😅 Btw, in Sweden we have called it aluminum foil for as long as I can remember 😉 Thanks for watching mate, appreciate it.
Hey Scotty, thanks for the comment, these are the best ones, to see someone found value in the video, really appreciate it mate. You and me both, I am counting the days until I can get started in the lawn again. Unfortunately that means april-may for us Swedes, sick and tired of snow by now :)
Hey Simon, agree, it's very good for that too, always amazing to see how much more grass clippings you get after you power rake, since it as you say, flicks the grass upright. Thanks for watching mate
Just moved from my apartment and into my first house with garden, have gone to numerous RUclips videos, guides etc. And was just as confused about these terms as you.. Really good video 👌🏼
It's the depth of the attachment that determines it's purpose. The scarifier attachment is intended to be set a few mm below the soil while the dethatcher is a few mm above the soil. Both attachments can remove thatch...but ive never had to use a scarifier to remove thatch as it's just too aggressive for the job. The dethatcher is the correct attachment to remove thatch from your turf without tearing up your good grass. When done properly you'll see that 80% of the material your pulling is brown, not green. Most well maintained yards do not let their thatch layers get to that level due to all the problems it creates.
Well I do agree with about the depth, but these home owner plastic machines aren't powerful enough to go deep enough to get to the thatch, not with the power rake attachment. What you refer to is all just dead grass and "junk" laying on top of the soil, which the power rake removes really well. But that's not thatch... yet. It does become part of the organic matter below the soil if you let it stay there long enough. Thatch to me is the organic matter that builds up BELOW the surface that you cannot reach with just the power rake tines, you would need the solid ones to go that deep. That's the way I see it at least, right or wrong, that's up to the viewer I guess :D
Midnight, you completely missed the point...and I dont think you know what thatch it. The fact its spring loaded means its made to NOT penetrate the surface...ie doesn't penetrate into the thatch layer. The brown stuff you're pulling up is just dead grass and other guff on the surface...stuff that will later become thatch. But its not thatch yet, thus you're not detchathing.
I actually was laughing watching your video, I think you’re right about what does this and what does that. I’m ashamed to admit it, but until this morning I didn’t know what a scarifier was. Personally I think that’s part of what’s wrong with our society, people don’t either care to share information like this or they know and deliberately don’t want to share information period because it may hurt their livelihood. I’m a professional arborist and I was always willing to teach anyone that wanted to learn. But there’s people who don’t want to teach others anything whether it’s carpentry, roofing, automotive, plumbing, or whatever. I’m glad that there are some people who don’t mind sharing knowledge about how things are done. Thanks
Hey Matthew, glad I could put a smile on your face :D and glad you found it helpful. I am all about knowledge sharing, I don't claim to know everything, far from it, but on some subjects I have a strong opinion. I am more than happy to share the things I know, doesn't make them true or correct but the things I show on my channel at least work for me, so if someone can also make use of the information, well, that's just awesome :) Thanks for dropping by mate.
The spring tines don't just remove debris on top of the grass. It also removes the debris between the grass plants at the soil level to help the roots breathe better, helps granular fertilizer get to the soil. Also there is a difference between what the British influenced areas call scarifying and what Americans call scarifying. To confuse things more, there is a commercial "power rake" used as a dethatcher.
Yes, I've seen Allett videos where they say scarify and they seem to mean something else, I figured there must also be some difference just language wise between American and British, however, as you point out, I didn't really want to confuse this even more, tried to keep it as simple as I could without getting into semantics :D
Perfect and thank you! I've been trying to figure this out all morning. I need to dig up my lawn which I just brush hogged and it left all sorts of crap still rooted. HD has a power rake which DOESN'T go into the soil and the yard is too big for a tiller. Scarify is the answer. THANK YOU!😅
You are correct! But I have scarified my lawn many times to renovate it and it never appeared to do any harm (stress) to the little bit of grass that was growing.
Hey, depends on when you do it, if you do it during the peak growing season then the recovery time would be minimal, a week or two. But if you do it late fall or early spring, then you would probably see longer recovery time. Even so, better to do it than skipping it all together.
Awesome explanation. I’ve just booked a dethatcher from a hire place for tomorrow and I was half expecting a machine that I now know is only a power rake and wouldn’t have know any better. At least now when I go to collect it I can insist on the scarifier fitting and not the rake one. Thnks a lot.
I agree dethatching is about the depth you are going into the soil - like you said, if the machine is only set to touch the surface it’s not getting into the layer of thatch deeper down - but I don’t agree the power rake attachment can’t do this - you just have to set your machine so it is going deep enough into the soil. I’ve used both blades and tines and haven’t noticed a real difference between them - key thing for me is the depth you are using them.
Hey Oli, Agreed, the depth is the important thing and as you say, the power rake could technically go deep enough if the soil is moist and you have a powerful machine that can handle getting down there. These machines for homeowners, I find aren't really that powerful enough to do that, but it depends, mine isn't anyways. Thanks for dropping by mate.
I have to agree with you Oli. I just purchased a SunJoe and used the rake attachment. I set it to the deepest depth. I can assure anyone who reads this comment that ALL OF THE THATCH WAS REMOVED and the soil is now exposed.
Thanks for the interesting video. My lawnmower is a 20" mulcher, so I guess I am laying finely chopped grass down when I mow.I bought a Worx "dethatcher" (no "scarifyer") after losing interest in standing outside with a "dethatching rake" for hours and hours every spring. I was done "dethatching" (maybe a better term would be spring raking?) my lawn in about an hour,and followed up by running my lawnmower over the debris to hoover up what the Worx loosened. I am very happy with the work this machine saves me in spring cleanup. I agree there is much confusion around dethatching and scarifying.
Hey Mike, glad you liked the video. I do that every spring to, just run over the power rake and clean up all the debris, it works really well! I can imagine doing it manually with a rake would take a long time. I think your process is awesome for a good spring start. Thanks for dropping by mate, appreciate it 🙏
Thank you for explaining this. Makes perfect sense. I just power raked my lawn. Now its time to dethatch it then I'm aerating it. Yes my lawn needs it. It's pretty embarrassing. I started repairing my yard last year while we were on lock down. Now that we built up our dirt around the house because the erosion was so bad I can concentrate more on the lawn. All my plant beds around the house look a million times better. Fingers crossed my lawn starts to look better after I finish making it look bad. Haha!!! It will be well worth it I'm sure.
Hi Rhonda, glad you found it helpful, sounds like you got your work cut out for you, it's super satisfying when it's done though. Good luck with the projects and let me know how your lawn turns out :)
Great video Sam. I have gone thru two levels (height) of 'power raking' and will scarify tomorrow. I think it would be good to discuss the height settings too!
I think most of confusion is when lawn care you tubers call dead grass and debris “thatch” when it’s not. Good to clarify this for some who think those tines actually break the thatch layer. 👍
@@SamsLawn Hi Guys let's get one thing clear thatch is actually dead grass that has been allowed to die and settle into the soil surface and causes the lawn surface to get spongy so not allowing air and feed get to the grass roots, so Yes! you need to arreate the lawn soil surface by using the arreate blade to remove the thatch, the tines they are used to remove surface debris from the lawn, in other words a light raking to tidy up the lawn surface throughout the summer and autumn months. R. A. 🏴🏴
Hi Roberto, Mine says that too in the instructions but I really don't see how that attachment will aerate your lawn, it barely scratches the surface. Maybe they mean it takes away debris and in that sense lets air down to the grass?
haha thanks mate, one of the things I often hear people say about me is that I am always myself, on camera, at work, at home, so hopefully that comes across :)
I think the confusion comes from the fact that some machines don't come with a scarifying attachment. The ones that don't come with a scarifying attachment use the term dethatcher which adds to the confusion. I assume they use that term because it's more commonly known/used in the lawn care community (certainly more used in the YT lawn community). But the terms aren't interchangeable. I have the sunjoe version and the manual uses the terms Scarifying and Raking and recommends 0, -5, and -10 mm and 0, 5, 10 mm, respectively for each attachment. But then it goes on to advise that you can use the 10 mm setting with the Raking attachment for "pushing behind with the machine; and removing thin thatch layers". Not sure what thatch you'd be removing at 1 cm from ground level. Again, just another example where even the manufacturer is using confusing/potentially inaccurate directions.
Exactly, not much thatch at 1 cm. Interesting that some of them don't even come with both attachments, then it makes a lot more sense why you would think its a dethatcher when reading the manual. Very interesting, thanks for sharing and appreciate you watching.
Agree, if you actually read the Manuel on some dethatchers/scarifier, it says the one with the little prongs sticking out of it is called a grass blade and the one with the long blades is called a ripper blade.
You are 100% correct sir! The other thing that bugs the crap out of me is 98% of the lawn care RUclipsrs pronounce it: scare-ifyer! Every time I hear that I wonder if they are trying to scare or frighten the lawn! Don’t scar it with slits for over-seeding, just tell your lawn the boogyman is coming and scare it!
Thanks - great video - agree hundred percent. 100% For many grasses - That ‘thatch’ is not like just dead grass that happen to be cut a layer’d up. Bagging does not get you less thatch. The thatch is more like the shedded back unkept palm tree leaves and light top root. Scarifier is able to remove as its cutting up both sides and ripping out the detached bits of the weaved thatch. Also scarifier cut up grass higher level rhizomes if grass is kentucky blue grass which is like getting more blue grass plants into the lawn. As the longer cut bits will root down once detached from the main roots from ‘mother’ plant. Not certain but I would think - it would be making it more drought able and denser after the above. Great video
Hey Patrick, As you say I think some of the confusion comes from just not knowing or understanding what thatch really is and the other part of it is just semantics I think. I would also say that the more you cut the plant in half so to say, the more you will force it to spread and you will have a thicker lawn. thanks for watching mate.
Well that's promising that it will grow back thick after cutting the roots. I just did a ton of scarifying (dethatching) today - and will overseed tomorrow.
Hey Sam. I just want to say my lawn is still green and it's Christmas eve. That was a fun challenge. From here on out I'll treat my lawn like an evergreen lawn. If I keep watering it so it won't go dormant. Thanks for all the great content. Merry Christmas and happy new year.
Awesome David, knew you could do it, mine was green last week but white again this week 😁 Super glad for all your support my man, merry Christmas dude 🎅
Great video, showing mechanically how it all works was really helpful. Even though I am not going to do my own lawn, it helps to know if someone claims they are going to do a good job and how?
Good video. I have one of those machines (a different brand and model). I don't use the power raking roller much, because I generally use my power mower to 'hoover' up the dead material extracted by the electric scarifier. It seems more effective and it also simultaneously trims the longer blades of living grass that have been raised up by the scarifier.
Hey Al, thanks for dropping by, I tend to do the opposite, I try to use the power rake attachment more often than scarifying. I feel like there has been an inflation in scarifying, I mean unless you have thatch problems or the grass has grown too thick you really don't need to scarify that much. Mostly I use the power rake just to take away excess debris from the lawn so I have less thatch build up going forward.
@@SamsLawn Thanks for the reply, Sam. That's actually my new approach now, too. A few days ago, I used the power rake on my lawn, and with the height set just right, it removed most of the dead material and lightly scored the damp soil underneath. I will probably be using the power rake mostly in future. However, the scarifying drum/roller has been very useful for leveling (i.e. removing humps in the lawn before reseeding those spots). I totally agree that the scarifying blades are the right option when thatch has become so thick and compacted, that the power rake can't deal with it.
totally right i can see how it would get mixed up my lawn is soft so it looked like it was digging in but i power raked and scarified lawn looks healthier. just need to bring up some spots so i just tested the back and side yard for the season. looking forward to see what this lesco pro team mates is all about. now i feel better about what i did thanks Sam. any tips on how to harden the lawn or do you thimk its propbably excessive thatch build up causing it to be soft and spongy ?
Thanks Donatella, really appreciate the kind words and I am really glad you found the video helpful. Who knew I wasn't the only one confused by this :)
Thank you for clearing that up. My head is spinning I'm kind of confused with all the information on all the other videos I watched fortunately I came across yours and now I totally understand.
Hey Sam after you power rake then use the thatcher and drop seed do you use peat moss to cover? cheap top soil? or nothing and let the seeds fall in the grooves that thatcher makes? Also I see Sun Joe gives you the power rake and thatcher but what about green works? do they give you both or just the power rake?
I agree with your terminology. Going a little further, I like calling it a spring tine power rake because there can be other styles of power rake such as the flail blade power rake. Then there's the verticutters including delta reel verticutters that are designed to go down to soil level, but not into the soil, to cut lateral growth and stolons. Then there are scarifiers or slicers (slice seeding) which are beefier metal than verticutters and designed to going into the soil to scarify/slice the ground in preparation to seed, also to cut into rhizomes. If thatch is an issue and you need corrective action then the flail blade power rake and hollow core aeration are your best bet. You can even follow that up with scarifying/slicing and then overseeding if you grass is not a creeping variety. Regular verticutting and/or spring tine power raking are helpful to keep thatch from becoming a big problem. The spring tine power rake is also great for removing debris that falls or gets blown into the yard.
Hey Jason, for sure, there are some other variants out there. The funny thing is that we lack a word in Swedish for Scarifying and Verticutting, it's the same word for both, but as you say it two totally different things. I would like to cover verticutters and other types of rakes, slice seeders etc. but it's so hard to find those to actually show the difference. But I like your explanation and agree fully.
That's not a power rake...it's a dethatcher. A Greenworks dethatcher is called precisely that because it has that mechanism with the tines. Otherwise, Greenworks would call it a Greenworks power rake. Dethatchers that come with a scarifier do a similar job except it creates grooves in the soil for overseeding.
Hey Chad, well, as you could see in the video, I don't agree, don't really understand why they call it a dethatcher since with those spring tines it is physically impossible to actually even get down to the thatch layer, they are not strong enough. But as I said in the video, this is my opinion, I respect if others don't agree and keep using it as a dethatcher. I appreciate you watching and expressing your opinion, thanks man.
@@SamsLawn a dethatcher's purpose isn't to get rid of the thatch layer but rather, to get rid of the dead layer of grass and other build-up of materials (thatch) that exist between the grass and the soil. Hope this helps.
This is what I thought. If you get rid of all the dead grass then it opens up the soil then the thatch then starts decaying. Otherwise it builds up. You can use a spring tine hand rake and does the same job except not as good as a electric or petrol spring tine rake.
Tack för att du klargör detta! Väldigt svårt att hitta information om vad som är vad, speciellt när man översätter från svenska till engelska och vice versa.
Tjena, tack, glad att du fann det värdefullt, jag var själv väldigt förvirrad när jag intresserade mig för gräsmattor, speciellt som du säger när man ska översätta från svenska till engelska och just att amerikanerna säger precis tvärtemot britterna. Det här är iaf min tolkning :)
I'm receiving my dethatching machine next week and I hope it does the trick. My lawn simply won't get thick and green after fertilizing. Your lawn looks terrific!
Hej Jim, thanks man, appreciate it, makes me fell the hours in the lawn might have been worth it :) Dethatching to thin out the "weak" grass and get rid of thatch and then overseeding is the key according to me, you will always have grass dying off so overseeding pretty much every season is important. Do that for a season or two and I promise you it will look awesome! Keep me updated mate!
My sun Joe instructions literally refer that piece with the tines as the dethatcher. Either way I now understand the concepts of each thanks to you. So thank you kind sir!
Yes,yes,yes,,,,,totally agree mate, I just purchased a machine that came with the 2 attatchments. On a test run with both attatchments, it's not hard to see that the wire tynes wont go down that low to scarify...well presented mate. Mark in Australia 👍
haha you should have seen me the first year I got into this stuff, was sooooo annoyed with everyone saying different things, already back then I thought someone should make a video about this, turned out I had to do it myself :D
Thanks for making that clear. I had no idea what I was doing. I ordered a Sun Joe and thought the power rake was dethatching my lawn by pulling up dead grass. lol Now I understand what you said and it makes good sense too.
Hey mate, glad you found it helpful. The power rake does help preventing thatch build up by removing debris that will eventually get down and add to the thatch, but it will not directly remove any thatch, still an awesome thing to use, I use the power rake far far more than the scarify attachment.
You are very right. It got me so confused trying to I initially understand what was what starting out. Especially when you are looking to buy your first few bits other than mower.
Thanks for creating such a nice simple guide. I bought my first scarifier last year and was amazed at how much thatch it pulled out of my lawn (in autumn/fall). However, I couldn't figure out what I should use the rake attachment for as I currently use my rotary mower for clearing leaves from the lawn as it has a much larger basket than the scarifier . The mower also chops up the leaves into small pieces which makes them quicker to rot in the compost bin. Once I've carried out some more scarifying in spring and (hopefully) get my lawn into reasonable shape I aim to finally get proper use out of the power rake when I carry out some top seeding as suggested by you. I'll be very happy if I can get my lawn into such good shape as yours!
Hey Mate, thank you very much, really glad you found the video helpful although it's a bit repetitive ☺ I hope you get your lawn where you want it mate, and you can always shoot questions my way if there is anything I can help with. Thanks for dropping by.
Hey Lisa, glad you found it helpful, power raking is awesome and not too aggressive, do it in combination with overseeding and your yard will look awesome after a few weeks :D Thanks for dropping by and hope the shoulder feels better soon :)
Hejssan! I took my whole lawn with that scarifeier. There was huge amout of moss. After that I just keep thatch away with good fertilizer and keep my soil Ph 6.5-7. Earthworms keep thatch away in naturally ways. Greetings from Helsinki!
Precisely, good job! That's one of the reason I don't like using chemicals on my lawn, I want the natural microlife to take care of thatch and aerate my lawn. All chemicals impacts that negatively, so I think your approach is awesome, keep it up! :)
I agree somewhat, it depends on the type of grass you have... Bermuda grass needs to be scarified. If you use the power rake or dethatcher, you'll ripped the Bermuda from the ground. But on fescue type grasses, you will dethatch it. But these grasses need both. The scarifier does 2 things. It opens the lawn to breathe and let's in sunlight. That's my experience in the southern states in the US...it also helps to scalp the yard to start fresh before the growing season of either grasses, cool season or warm season grasses. That's the key point... ..
Hey Cathy, glad it helped, yes that's part of the confusion, not sure if they really mean it should be able to take away thatch or if we are just into semantics here 🤷♂️
Hey Jenny, thank you very much, really glad you found it helpful, just let me know if you have any other things you might be wondering about, always glad to help or even do a video if it's something lot of people wonder about :)
Hi Sam, great video. Nice and short but to the point. I now understand the difference between the power rake tool and the scarifier tool and I have been looking for an hour for clarification about it. So well done on that.
Hey Mate, glad you found it helpful. I did the same thing when I started out, couldn´t find an easy explanation anywhere, so I decided to make one myself. Thanks for dropping by dude, appreciate it 🙏
Hey, Me too actually, first thing I did when I got one of these was to check RUclips to see if someone explained this but all I got was more annoyed and confused, so in the end I felt I had to do one myself :)
DAM.... U NAILED IT. GREAT DEMO SHOWING THE PLUG OF GROUND AND GRASS. U R RIGHT. Still depends on the types of grass in one's area. But u did an awesome job describing the difference. Thanks again for your informative videos.
I have a power rake/scarifyer with a combination of both blades and springs. I think the thatch - debris distinction is for people having separate tools.
Thanks for the video. You’re right about other channels confusing use of the word “de thatching” and which tool to use. I have two really bad areas of thatch that literally stops my mower when I run it over. It’s like 1/2 inch carpet and it’s really bad thick.
Thanks Stan, appreciate it. Most people have thatch, just have to think of it in longer terms, most people want to take care of it with one scarification and that's not happening. Lawn care is a marathon, just have to keep at it. Hope you get that thatch my man 😁
Absolutely. correct. Is confusing as power rake is sold as an aerator in Uk . Is hard to know when to use them. Was thinking that power rake is just a less effective scarifier that scrapes the surface and the scarifier. cuts through ground . Also on new lawns would not use power rake as with non established grass can lift the new seedlings if not well rooted. So as you say power rake for surface debris and scarifier for thatch in soil. . Is ideal for lawn renovation to use both to strip as much back before reseeding. Could only be described as aerator in the sense that it aerates the surface but not in traditional sense of hollow core aerators that aerate the ground / roots.
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I've been obsessed with my lawn for about 8 months now and this is by far the best video on RUclips about scarifying, dethatching, raking etc, and I've watched hundreds of videos haha I hired a scarifier and it created and the lines and grooves in my soil and I thought I was doing it wrong but after watching this video I was doing it right
Hey Alex, thank you very much for this comment, means alot to me and I am very glad you found the video helpful. Ofc WE do it the right way while others do it wrong 😁😂Thanks for the support, appreciate it dude.
Thank you for the video. It helped clarify for those of use that are not in this industry.
And, thank you for being one that fights for proper communication and terminology. Too many people don't take the time to be accurate in their statements. Anyone that says you are being inflexible about the terminology is part of the major communication problem we see these days (in my opinion). Stand your ground. You are not alone. :) Thanks again, from a technology "ranter".
Hey man, thanks a lot! I agree, so many people just throw around terms without actually being sure, which just confuses people, in this case it even comes from the manufacturers, which to me is very strange. Thanks for watching dude, appreciate it 🙏
Great video, but I think there is still some grey area here. You’re absolutely right, thatch is the spongey layer of partially decomposed organic material underneath your grass, not the dead grass on top. However, this spongey layer is made up of roots, rhizomes AND dead grass. So when you’re power raking, you’re not technically de-thatching, but you are effectively (in theory) helping to PREVENT some portion of thatch buildup. The hay that comes off the top after power raking is not thatch, but it will lead to eventual thatch buildup, and why people refer to the removal of this layer as “de-thatching”. This is where the confusion comes from I think.
Hey mate, 100% agree, thought about that afterwards, that might be the cause of the confusion for sure, since I fully agree that the dead grass is what will contribute to the thatch build up. I plan to do a follow up and also add verticutting in the comparison. Will definitely mention this aspect. Thanks for pointing this out and for dropping by dude
No you are wrong, the spongy layer is mulch already!!!! This is what happens when unschooled people speak on a subject.
Agreed. The lawn rake will help break down the thatch layer in time with repeated treatments. Same with a verticutter. I work on grass tennis courts where scarifying is only possible at the end of season but the wire tines are definitely helping to improve the levels of thatch that had developed over many years.
Your definition of a power rake is spot on. I have two large red oak trees in the front yard that are a royal pain to rake by hand. And, I rake leaves four or five times during the fall season (raking time is nearly upon us). You are truly the ONLY one (on RUclips) who has dared to define and clarify that the attachment with tines serves as a power rake and only as a power rake. I have oftentimes considered doing a RUclips with this scenario: these are leaves; this is a power rake. Observe the power rake as it rakes up the leaves. Many thanks for this vid, Sam.
Wow thanks man, can't tell you how glad this comment made me, really appreciate it. Glad you agree with me, hopefully more people realize how to use the right attachment for the job 😁🙏
I actually had leaves last year that I did not get off the ground using just the blower and vacuum shredder. So I will actually try the "power raker" (that I've always called a dethatcher) now to actually RAKE up those leaves! Awesome. I was wondering how I was going to get rid of those leaves since I have a secret promise to myself to never use a manual rake again.
im totally new to this and everyone keeps saying dethatch and then scarify.. i started watching other video and someone said their biggest mistake was not scarifying first then using the rake tool for cleanup. this makes so much more sense to me now. Thanks!
Glad you found it helpful mate, thanks for dropping by 🙏
Thankfully cause I thought I did it backwards so now I will de thatch
Finally, NOW I know the Difference and can stop watching videos on How to do What.
I Dethach and then I use my power raker. Dethatcher and Raker. That's what I'll call it from now on!
Great Video and thank you for Explaining it -or- better known as Dethaching our Terminology!!
Thanks mate, really glad you found it helpful, I was just as confused a couple of years ago, but this is at least my take on it and I'm stickning to it :)
Appreciate you dropping by
Hit the nail on the head Sam, some people try to use the terms interchangeably and don't really understand the benefits or reasons for the different processes.
Today, right before it started raining, I De-Thatched the Front and Back lawns. Then I switched out the De-Thacher and installed the Rake-thing-a-bob and commenced to power-rack both lawns. After an hour of doing that, which didn't work for beans. So....I got out my Robi Power Leaf Blower and made a 5ft tall Thatch Swamp Monster, Then I went to my Mancave to get me a Beer and what do I find, nothing but Sprite, Coke, Pepsi and Rootbeer. Now off to the store! Thanks so much Mate!!
haha sounds like a really busy day dude, but it does feel nice once you are done though :)
If you get a lot of thatch, then for sure the power rake will struggle, at least these home made ones, just not powerful enough.
I would go for the rootbeer, always seen them in movies but never tried it, it looks tasty, not sure if they even sell them in Sweden :)
A landscaper told me I needed to power rake my lawn. I actually needed both. I found I had two inches at least of thatch. I purchased a Sun Joe. It works because I don’t have a huge lot. Lawn looks great after seeding and fertilizer from last Fall to this Spring.
Hey Kimberly, I have issues with thatch too, so I usually scarify and then power rake afterwards and I think these machines work awesome for normal homeowners, nothing more fancy is needed. Glad your lawn is looking great, keep it up! :)
You exactly right, Did my grass 3 weeks ago and it looks amazing now with a premium fertilizer,It might look bad for a few weeks but it comes back amazing.
It really does, might look horrible for a while but boy does it bounce back :)
You repeated this so many times even I can remember 😂. Wish to have teacher like you in school
Hahaha for sure mate, repetition is key 😅😜
Thanks for the heads up. Bought the Sun Joe and my first thought was "that's not going to dethatch anything". Then a review on Amazon said the exact same thing you said. You've confirmed my suspicions.
Hey mate, glad you found it helpful :)
I spend hours looking for this distinct answer!!! Yes finally!! Thank you so much! I just got my sun joe today and wanted to make sure of steps to take but my goodness the most simplest question i could not find and ANSWER TO!! Till now! Thank u so much! One more question though does my ground need to be dry or can lawn be moist to dethatch? Ive been watering a little so it is moist. Should i wait for it to dry? Please and thank u!
Hi Olivia, thank you very much, glad you found it helpful. I was right were you are a couple of years ago, had no idea and couldn't find any answers. You can dethatch when it's wet out, however depending on how wet it is you might end up making a muddy mess, I would wait until it's a bit dry to do it. Also makes the picking up debris alot easier. Thanks again for watching appreciate it 🙏
Which one to remove Dead moss please?
@@michaellogan8395 did you watch the video? He mentions moss specifically
I saw moist before, but not wet. It rain for a few days in a row. One dry day, then I power raked and tried it. Lots of dry grass it removes.
Sam, excellent take on the subject. It boggles my mind how many folks love to critique just for the sake of doing so. Information was given and received. Great job.
Thanks mate, I agree. Appreciate you dropping by 🙏
I thought it was just me confused but at last someone explains the difference and what they are for , I have both and people call them different things and what they do but now thanks to you Sam I know what to do with each one Thank you again for explaining and educating me. Take care
Thank you very much for the kind words, really means alot when people take away something useful from the videos, glad you stopped by 🙏
The lawn care industry is a mirror of the pool industry. Same words, yet 100s of definitions and opinions that confuse people. Then they end up spending $1000 and 3 months trying to clear up a 15,000 gallon pool when I can do it for $40 in chemicals in 3 days. Great video!!
Hey, I can imagine mate! Hopefully with the videos we make, we can at least bring some clarity :) thanks alot for dropping by! 🙏
I was confused by the difference between the 2 and most sources online treats them as almost the same. Thanks for clearing this up!
Thanks man, glad you found it helpful :)
@@SamsLawn You can use a power rake for thatch and moss removal after the moss has been sprayed and has died of.
Also there are a few different blade types you can get.
@@zarrow50 Hey Clive, precisely, important part is to treat the moss and not just use the power rake and think it will be enough, you will end up spreading it more. But agree, if you treat it then you can use the power rake to take it away after :)
This is hands down the best video I have watched so far. In the Netherlands (where I am from) they only have ONE word "verticuteren". And they use it for all the differtent applications. Dethatch, verticut, scarify, etc. they are all translated to Verticuteren and thus companies name there tools verticuteer machine. It is so confusing to me. While they all do something different.
Hey mate, thank you very much, so glad to hear you like the video! It's the same in Swedish actually, our word for verticutting and scarifying is the same, we don't even have a word for de-thatching, makes it all very confusing. Hopefully it's a bit clearer now. Thanks again mate.
Yep. Totally agree. Those hardware store power rakers just tickle the lawn. Been there, done that. Your demonstration of thatch was enlightening.
Thanks Michael, glad you found it enlightening :)
Thank you so much Sam for clarifying. I have just spent 3 hrs using my electric lawn rake thinking I was getting rid of the moss. When I first got my lawn mower I put it on the lowest setting because I didn't want to mow the lawn every weekend. Then I realised that the lower I cut the grass the more moss grows. NOW I can't get the handle to move back to a higher setting - it's completely stuck. I am now going to watch a video on overseeding to get rid of the bald patches and try to thicken and green up my lawn. Wish me luck!☺
Hi! Glad you found the video helpful. These electric rakes are actually awesome for clearing the moss but if you don´t treat the moss with some iron or something it will just spread it even more unfortunately. Overseeding is so much fun, good luck and keep me posted on the progress 😊
Thanks for dropping by, appreciate it 🙏
@@SamsLawn This is my lawn now on a rainy May Day Bank Holiday. It's not perfect but it's much better.
@@SamsLawn Don't know how to attach the image!
@@primroseseven2850 Attaching photos to the comments doesn´t work unfortunately :( you can always reach out to me through Instagram, I would love to see how your lawn looks!
I appreciate you taking the time to make a video about this. I am an “average Joe” as well, just trying to make our lawn look a little better.
Hey John, thanks so much, glad you found value in the video, I think 99% of people just want a decent lawn, most channels aim for the golf course look but that's not for me, so hopefully I can show people how to get a decent lawn without devoting their entire life to it :)
Your approach to explaining power rake is better than all the other videos I've taken time to listen to. Thank you for clarifying POWER Raking and Detaching.
Hey Juan, thanks a lot dude, really appreciate it. Glad you found it helpful even though I ranted on and repeated myself a million times 😅
Absolutely. Ultimately it's a terminology problem that needs to be fixed. A lot of people use the term "thatch" to reference lawn debris. Sadly, like a lot of things, once a term is engrained in our vocabulary it's hard to fix it. People still call the metallic foil you use to wrap things "tin foil" even though it hasn't been made from tin since WWII.
Yep, agree Ed, good point. Hopefully the rest of the lawn care community can jump in and change it. However, I have seen alot of videos where they still make the same "mistake". I just need to get a couple of million views and then problem solved 😅
Btw, in Sweden we have called it aluminum foil for as long as I can remember 😉
Thanks for watching mate, appreciate it.
You nailed it, it's a waste of time, you have to go into the soil so seeds can contact the soil, glad someone brought that to attention!
Thanks mate! Glad you liked the video :)
Glad I found your video. Have been doing it wrong for years then. February now but can't wait to get at it. Thanks for putting it into simple terms.🙂
Hey Scotty, thanks for the comment, these are the best ones, to see someone found value in the video, really appreciate it mate. You and me both, I am counting the days until I can get started in the lawn again. Unfortunately that means april-may for us Swedes, sick and tired of snow by now :)
When is the best time to start in uk?
@@SilverTrill Daniel Hibbert Lawn Care Expert from BOLTON says NOW
Totally agree! Given the fact that the tines are made to NOT dig into your lawn because they are coiled spring tines. Nice video! Thanks!
Hey Don, thanks mate, appreciate it and I agree with you, they are not made to dig into the soil while the other one is.
👍🏻 great video. The rake is also good for flicking grass upright before mowing to stop sideways growth
Hey Simon, agree, it's very good for that too, always amazing to see how much more grass clippings you get after you power rake, since it as you say, flicks the grass upright. Thanks for watching mate
Just moved from my apartment and into my first house with garden, have gone to numerous RUclips videos, guides etc. And was just as confused about these terms as you..
Really good video 👌🏼
Hey Lasse, You are where I was a couple of years ago when I moved into my house :) Glad you found the video helpful.
It's the depth of the attachment that determines it's purpose. The scarifier attachment is intended to be set a few mm below the soil while the dethatcher is a few mm above the soil. Both attachments can remove thatch...but ive never had to use a scarifier to remove thatch as it's just too aggressive for the job. The dethatcher is the correct attachment to remove thatch from your turf without tearing up your good grass. When done properly you'll see that 80% of the material your pulling is brown, not green.
Most well maintained yards do not let their thatch layers get to that level due to all the problems it creates.
Well I do agree with about the depth, but these home owner plastic machines aren't powerful enough to go deep enough to get to the thatch, not with the power rake attachment. What you refer to is all just dead grass and "junk" laying on top of the soil, which the power rake removes really well. But that's not thatch... yet. It does become part of the organic matter below the soil if you let it stay there long enough. Thatch to me is the organic matter that builds up BELOW the surface that you cannot reach with just the power rake tines, you would need the solid ones to go that deep. That's the way I see it at least, right or wrong, that's up to the viewer I guess :D
Midnight, you completely missed the point...and I dont think you know what thatch it.
The fact its spring loaded means its made to NOT penetrate the surface...ie doesn't penetrate into the thatch layer. The brown stuff you're pulling up is just dead grass and other guff on the surface...stuff that will later become thatch. But its not thatch yet, thus you're not detchathing.
I actually was laughing watching your video, I think you’re right about what does this and what does that. I’m ashamed to admit it, but until this morning I didn’t know what a scarifier was. Personally I think that’s part of what’s wrong with our society, people don’t either care to share information like this or they know and deliberately don’t want to share information period because it may hurt their livelihood. I’m a professional arborist and I was always willing to teach anyone that wanted to learn. But there’s people who don’t want to teach others anything whether it’s carpentry, roofing, automotive, plumbing, or whatever. I’m glad that there are some people who don’t mind sharing knowledge about how things are done. Thanks
Hey Matthew, glad I could put a smile on your face :D and glad you found it helpful. I am all about knowledge sharing, I don't claim to know everything, far from it, but on some subjects I have a strong opinion. I am more than happy to share the things I know, doesn't make them true or correct but the things I show on my channel at least work for me, so if someone can also make use of the information, well, that's just awesome :) Thanks for dropping by mate.
The spring tines don't just remove debris on top of the grass. It also removes the debris between the grass plants at the soil level to help the roots breathe better, helps granular fertilizer get to the soil. Also there is a difference between what the British influenced areas call scarifying and what Americans call scarifying. To confuse things more, there is a commercial "power rake" used as a dethatcher.
Yes, I've seen Allett videos where they say scarify and they seem to mean something else, I figured there must also be some difference just language wise between American and British, however, as you point out, I didn't really want to confuse this even more, tried to keep it as simple as I could without getting into semantics :D
Perfect and thank you! I've been trying to figure this out all morning. I need to dig up my lawn which I just brush hogged and it left all sorts of crap still rooted. HD has a power rake which DOESN'T go into the soil and the yard is too big for a tiller. Scarify is the answer. THANK YOU!😅
Awesome mate, glad you found it helpful, hope everything goes well with your scarifying :)
Thanks, finally a useful explanation. It's a bit of a concern when the retailers don't know the difference.
Hey Jon, yeah that's my experience too.
Thanks for watching appreciate it 🙏
You are correct! But I have scarified my lawn many times to renovate it and it never appeared to do any harm (stress) to the little bit of grass that was growing.
Hey, depends on when you do it, if you do it during the peak growing season then the recovery time would be minimal, a week or two. But if you do it late fall or early spring, then you would probably see longer recovery time. Even so, better to do it than skipping it all together.
This video just saved me loads of time and headache. Much appreciated.
Awesome, glad you found the video helpful mate :)
Awesome explanation. I’ve just booked a dethatcher from a hire place for tomorrow and I was half expecting a machine that I now know is only a power rake and wouldn’t have know any better. At least now when I go to collect it I can insist on the scarifier fitting and not the rake one. Thnks a lot.
Awesome mate, glad you found it helpful, hope the dethatching goes well!
I agree dethatching is about the depth you are going into the soil - like you said, if the machine is only set to touch the surface it’s not getting into the layer of thatch deeper down - but I don’t agree the power rake attachment can’t do this - you just have to set your machine so it is going deep enough into the soil. I’ve used both blades and tines and haven’t noticed a real difference between them - key thing for me is the depth you are using them.
Hey Oli, Agreed, the depth is the important thing and as you say, the power rake could technically go deep enough if the soil is moist and you have a powerful machine that can handle getting down there. These machines for homeowners, I find aren't really that powerful enough to do that, but it depends, mine isn't anyways. Thanks for dropping by mate.
I have to agree with you Oli. I just purchased a SunJoe and used the rake attachment. I set it to the deepest depth.
I can assure anyone who reads this comment that ALL OF THE THATCH WAS REMOVED and the soil is now exposed.
Thanks for the interesting video. My lawnmower is a 20" mulcher, so I guess I am laying finely chopped grass down when I mow.I bought a Worx "dethatcher" (no "scarifyer") after losing interest in standing outside with a "dethatching rake" for hours and hours every spring. I was done "dethatching" (maybe a better term would be spring raking?) my lawn in about an hour,and followed up by running my lawnmower over the debris to hoover up what the Worx loosened. I am very happy with the work this machine saves me in spring cleanup. I agree there is much confusion around dethatching and scarifying.
Hey Mike, glad you liked the video. I do that every spring to, just run over the power rake and clean up all the debris, it works really well! I can imagine doing it manually with a rake would take a long time. I think your process is awesome for a good spring start. Thanks for dropping by mate, appreciate it 🙏
Thank you for explaining this. Makes perfect sense. I just power raked my lawn. Now its time to dethatch it then I'm aerating it. Yes my lawn needs it. It's pretty embarrassing. I started repairing my yard last year while we were on lock down. Now that we built up our dirt around the house because the erosion was so bad I can concentrate more on the lawn. All my plant beds around the house look a million times better. Fingers crossed my lawn starts to look better after I finish making it look bad. Haha!!! It will be well worth it I'm sure.
Hi Rhonda, glad you found it helpful, sounds like you got your work cut out for you, it's super satisfying when it's done though. Good luck with the projects and let me know how your lawn turns out :)
First time I am ever leaving a RUclips comment. That is the single most informative video I have watched on this subject. Huge thanks!
Wow thanks so much Waseem, really means alot to hear that, very glad you found it helpful 🙏
Great video Sam. I have gone thru two levels (height) of 'power raking' and will scarify tomorrow. I think it would be good to discuss the height settings too!
Hey Neil, thanks mate, awesome idea, will plan a video for that 👌🏼👍🏼
2 years later man and still people keep saying dethatch then scarify. This actually cleared things up.
I agree, people still say differently in every video
I think most of confusion is when lawn care you tubers call dead grass and debris “thatch” when it’s not. Good to clarify this for some who think those tines actually break the thatch layer. 👍
Exactly Dave, seen a lot of them refer to dead grass as thatch for some reason. Thanks for watching, appreciate it.
@@SamsLawn Hi Guys let's get one thing clear thatch is actually dead grass that has been allowed to die and settle into the soil surface and causes the lawn surface to get spongy so not allowing air and feed get to the grass roots, so Yes! you need to arreate the lawn soil surface by using the arreate blade to remove the thatch, the tines they are used to remove surface debris from the lawn, in other words a light raking to tidy up the lawn surface throughout the summer and autumn months. R. A. 🏴🏴
I just bought Wolf Garden scarifier, my understanding is that what you call power rake is the aerator. Thanks for your video!!!
Hi Roberto, Mine says that too in the instructions but I really don't see how that attachment will aerate your lawn, it barely scratches the surface. Maybe they mean it takes away debris and in that sense lets air down to the grass?
Thanks, you saved my day, very well explained. Using the Sun Joe here in Ontario Canada 🇨🇦 ❤
Hey mate, glad you found the video helpful! Appreciate you dropping by 🙏
I think this is the first time I have actually GOT IT! Thanks
Glad you found it helpful mate and it cleared out some question marks :)
@@SamsLawn Absolutely! I went and ordered a petrol verticutter because now I know what my lawns actually need 😁
Great explanation Sam. I completely agree with you. It's a big misconception that some people just can't seem to figure out. Well done. 👍🏼
Thanks a lot Nathan, appreciate it man :)
A pro would have a different view
I love this. You’re a real person and you talk like “duh” 😂 you’re my dude.
haha thanks mate, one of the things I often hear people say about me is that I am always myself, on camera, at work, at home, so hopefully that comes across :)
I think the confusion comes from the fact that some machines don't come with a scarifying attachment. The ones that don't come with a scarifying attachment use the term dethatcher which adds to the confusion. I assume they use that term because it's more commonly known/used in the lawn care community (certainly more used in the YT lawn community). But the terms aren't interchangeable.
I have the sunjoe version and the manual uses the terms Scarifying and Raking and recommends 0, -5, and -10 mm and 0, 5, 10 mm, respectively for each attachment. But then it goes on to advise that you can use the 10 mm setting with the Raking attachment for "pushing behind with the machine; and removing thin thatch layers". Not sure what thatch you'd be removing at 1 cm from ground level. Again, just another example where even the manufacturer is using confusing/potentially inaccurate directions.
Exactly, not much thatch at 1 cm. Interesting that some of them don't even come with both attachments, then it makes a lot more sense why you would think its a dethatcher when reading the manual. Very interesting, thanks for sharing and appreciate you watching.
Agree, if you actually read the Manuel on some dethatchers/scarifier, it says the one with the little prongs sticking out of it is called a grass blade and the one with the long blades is called a ripper blade.
You are 100% correct sir! The other thing that bugs the crap out of me is 98% of the lawn care RUclipsrs pronounce it: scare-ifyer! Every time I hear that I wonder if they are trying to scare or frighten the lawn! Don’t scar it with slits for over-seeding, just tell your lawn the boogyman is coming and scare it!
Haha thanks man, appreciate it 😁
😄
Thanks - great video - agree hundred percent.
100% For many grasses - That ‘thatch’ is not like just dead grass that happen to be cut a layer’d up. Bagging does not get you less thatch. The thatch is more like the shedded back unkept palm tree leaves and light top root. Scarifier is able to remove as its cutting up both sides and ripping out the detached bits of the weaved thatch.
Also scarifier cut up grass higher level rhizomes if grass is kentucky blue grass which is like getting more blue grass plants into the lawn. As the longer cut bits will root down once detached from the main roots from ‘mother’ plant.
Not certain but I would think - it would be making it more drought able and denser after the above.
Great video
Hey Patrick, As you say I think some of the confusion comes from just not knowing or understanding what thatch really is and the other part of it is just semantics I think.
I would also say that the more you cut the plant in half so to say, the more you will force it to spread and you will have a thicker lawn.
thanks for watching mate.
Well that's promising that it will grow back thick after cutting the roots. I just did a ton of scarifying (dethatching) today - and will overseed tomorrow.
Hey Sam. I just want to say my lawn is still green and it's Christmas eve. That was a fun challenge. From here on out I'll treat my lawn like an evergreen lawn. If I keep watering it so it won't go dormant. Thanks for all the great content. Merry Christmas and happy new year.
Awesome David, knew you could do it, mine was green last week but white again this week 😁
Super glad for all your support my man, merry Christmas dude 🎅
@@SamsLawn 👌
👌
the 1st video I see that breaks it down logically and easily !
Awesome mate, glad you enjoyed the video :)
Thanks for dropping by 🙏
Great video, showing mechanically how it all works was really helpful. Even though I am not going to do my own lawn, it helps to know if someone claims they are going to do a good job and how?
Usually you can see from the results pretty fast if they know what they are doing or not :)
Good video. I have one of those machines (a different brand and model). I don't use the power raking roller much, because I generally use my power mower to 'hoover' up the dead material extracted by the electric scarifier. It seems more effective and it also simultaneously trims the longer blades of living grass that have been raised up by the scarifier.
Hey Al, thanks for dropping by, I tend to do the opposite, I try to use the power rake attachment more often than scarifying. I feel like there has been an inflation in scarifying, I mean unless you have thatch problems or the grass has grown too thick you really don't need to scarify that much. Mostly I use the power rake just to take away excess debris from the lawn so I have less thatch build up going forward.
@@SamsLawn Thanks for the reply, Sam. That's actually my new approach now, too. A few days ago, I used the power rake on my lawn, and with the height set just right, it removed most of the dead material and lightly scored the damp soil underneath. I will probably be using the power rake mostly in future. However, the scarifying drum/roller has been very useful for leveling (i.e. removing humps in the lawn before reseeding those spots). I totally agree that the scarifying blades are the right option when thatch has become so thick and compacted, that the power rake can't deal with it.
totally right i can see how it would get mixed up my lawn is soft so it looked like it was digging in but i power raked and scarified lawn looks healthier. just need to bring up some spots so i just tested the back and side yard for the season. looking forward to see what this lesco pro team mates is all about. now i feel better about what i did thanks Sam. any tips on how to harden the lawn or do you thimk its propbably excessive thatch build up causing it to be soft and spongy ?
Hey Tom, yeah thatch would be my first guess actually, I would pull a plug and check. I have too much thatch myself and some spots are very spongy.
Omg finally.....I was sooooo confused 😕...100s of videos and in every single one they were saying something different 😳...you saved me!! 🤣🤣😎
Thanks Donatella, really appreciate the kind words and I am really glad you found the video helpful. Who knew I wasn't the only one confused by this :)
You’re absolutely right…because of that I subscribed!!! 😀👍🏾
Hey mate, thanks a lot, glad you found some value in the video, really appreciate the sub and support! 🙏
Thank you for clearing that up. My head is spinning I'm kind of confused with all the information on all the other videos I watched fortunately I came across yours and now I totally understand.
Hey Michael, glad you found it helpful mate, I was just as confused as you were, just a couple of years ago. Hopefully this clears things up :)
Hey Sam after you power rake then use the thatcher and drop seed do you use peat moss to cover? cheap top soil? or nothing and let the seeds fall in the grooves that thatcher makes?
Also I see Sun Joe gives you the power rake and thatcher but what about green works? do they give you both or just the power rake?
That’s what I would like to know only I’m using power rake I don’t have much thatch
I agree with your terminology. Going a little further, I like calling it a spring tine power rake because there can be other styles of power rake such as the flail blade power rake. Then there's the verticutters including delta reel verticutters that are designed to go down to soil level, but not into the soil, to cut lateral growth and stolons. Then there are scarifiers or slicers (slice seeding) which are beefier metal than verticutters and designed to going into the soil to scarify/slice the ground in preparation to seed, also to cut into rhizomes. If thatch is an issue and you need corrective action then the flail blade power rake and hollow core aeration are your best bet. You can even follow that up with scarifying/slicing and then overseeding if you grass is not a creeping variety. Regular verticutting and/or spring tine power raking are helpful to keep thatch from becoming a big problem. The spring tine power rake is also great for removing debris that falls or gets blown into the yard.
Hey Jason, for sure, there are some other variants out there. The funny thing is that we lack a word in Swedish for Scarifying and Verticutting, it's the same word for both, but as you say it two totally different things. I would like to cover verticutters and other types of rakes, slice seeders etc. but it's so hard to find those to actually show the difference. But I like your explanation and agree fully.
Here is me detaching with the wrong part lol anyway it felt like it did good work on my lawns on lowest setting
haha well I mean it doesn't have to be bad thing, maybe you needed a good power raking :D
You are absolutely right. the misnaming of the functions of these machines was driving me nuts also.
Thanks alot mate!
That's not a power rake...it's a dethatcher. A Greenworks dethatcher is called precisely that because it has that mechanism with the tines. Otherwise, Greenworks would call it a Greenworks power rake. Dethatchers that come with a scarifier do a similar job except it creates grooves in the soil for overseeding.
Hey Chad, well, as you could see in the video, I don't agree, don't really understand why they call it a dethatcher since with those spring tines it is physically impossible to actually even get down to the thatch layer, they are not strong enough. But as I said in the video, this is my opinion, I respect if others don't agree and keep using it as a dethatcher. I appreciate you watching and expressing your opinion, thanks man.
@@SamsLawn a dethatcher's purpose isn't to get rid of the thatch layer but rather, to get rid of the dead layer of grass and other build-up of materials (thatch) that exist between the grass and the soil. Hope this helps.
This is what I thought. If you get rid of all the dead grass then it opens up the soil then the thatch then starts decaying. Otherwise it builds up. You can use a spring tine hand rake and does the same job except not as good as a electric or petrol spring tine rake.
Tack för att du klargör detta! Väldigt svårt att hitta information om vad som är vad, speciellt när man översätter från svenska till engelska och vice versa.
Tjena, tack, glad att du fann det värdefullt, jag var själv väldigt förvirrad när jag intresserade mig för gräsmattor, speciellt som du säger när man ska översätta från svenska till engelska och just att amerikanerna säger precis tvärtemot britterna. Det här är iaf min tolkning :)
I'm receiving my dethatching machine next week and I hope it does the trick. My lawn simply won't get thick and green after fertilizing. Your lawn looks terrific!
Hej Jim, thanks man, appreciate it, makes me fell the hours in the lawn might have been worth it :)
Dethatching to thin out the "weak" grass and get rid of thatch and then overseeding is the key according to me, you will always have grass dying off so overseeding pretty much every season is important. Do that for a season or two and I promise you it will look awesome! Keep me updated mate!
My sun Joe instructions literally refer that piece with the tines as the dethatcher. Either way I now understand the concepts of each thanks to you. So thank you kind sir!
Thank you for dropping by mate, appreciate it and glad you found it helpful :)
Power rake it AFTER you scarify it.
This was my question while watching the video. Definitely made logical sense but just got my confirmation
Yes,yes,yes,,,,,totally agree mate, I just purchased a machine that came with the 2 attatchments.
On a test run with both attatchments, it's not hard to see that the wire tynes wont go down that low to scarify...well presented mate.
Mark in Australia 👍
Thanks Mark, appreciate it, always feels good when people agree with you 😁 say hello to Australia for me 😉
Which one scarified again 😂😂😂
haha yeah.... I might have repeated myself once or twice 😅😉
But at least the message sticks 🥳✌
So cool to see that there‘s someone else also beeing confused by other yt videos explaining scarifying, dethatching and stuff like that. 😆
haha you should have seen me the first year I got into this stuff, was sooooo annoyed with everyone saying different things, already back then I thought someone should make a video about this, turned out I had to do it myself :D
Thanks for making that clear. I had no idea what I was doing. I ordered a Sun Joe and thought the power rake was dethatching my lawn by pulling up dead grass. lol Now I understand what you said and it makes good sense too.
Hey mate, glad you found it helpful. The power rake does help preventing thatch build up by removing debris that will eventually get down and add to the thatch, but it will not directly remove any thatch, still an awesome thing to use, I use the power rake far far more than the scarify attachment.
@@SamsLawn Good point. Thanks again!
You are very right. It got me so confused trying to I initially understand what was what starting out. Especially when you are looking to buy your first few bits other than mower.
Hey Paul, exactly right, I was very confused when I started out. Hopefully this will help others figure this out faster than I did :)
Thanks for creating such a nice simple guide. I bought my first scarifier last year and was amazed at how much thatch it pulled out of my lawn (in autumn/fall). However, I couldn't figure out what I should use the rake attachment for as I currently use my rotary mower for clearing leaves from the lawn as it has a much larger basket than the scarifier . The mower also chops up the leaves into small pieces which makes them quicker to rot in the compost bin. Once I've carried out some more scarifying in spring and (hopefully) get my lawn into reasonable shape I aim to finally get proper use out of the power rake when I carry out some top seeding as suggested by you. I'll be very happy if I can get my lawn into such good shape as yours!
Hey Mate, thank you very much, really glad you found the video helpful although it's a bit repetitive ☺
I hope you get your lawn where you want it mate, and you can always shoot questions my way if there is anything I can help with. Thanks for dropping by.
Thanks for clarifying that. Whether I dethatch or rake. My yard needs a good power raking and this Sun Joe is better if dealing with a bad shoulder 😄
Hey Lisa, glad you found it helpful, power raking is awesome and not too aggressive, do it in combination with overseeding and your yard will look awesome after a few weeks :D
Thanks for dropping by and hope the shoulder feels better soon :)
@@SamsLawn you're welcome and thanks I appreciate that 😊
Hejssan! I took my whole lawn with that scarifeier. There was huge amout of moss. After that I just keep thatch away with good fertilizer and keep my soil Ph 6.5-7. Earthworms keep thatch away in naturally ways.
Greetings from Helsinki!
Precisely, good job! That's one of the reason I don't like using chemicals on my lawn, I want the natural microlife to take care of thatch and aerate my lawn. All chemicals impacts that negatively, so I think your approach is awesome, keep it up! :)
Thank you for your rant. I have just cleared some moss using the wrong attachment! I am now better educated.
Hey Peter, glad you found the video helpful,. Thanks for dropping by, appreciate it 🙏
I agree somewhat, it depends on the type of grass you have... Bermuda grass needs to be scarified. If you use the power rake or dethatcher, you'll ripped the Bermuda from the ground. But on fescue type grasses, you will dethatch it. But these grasses need both. The scarifier does 2 things. It opens the lawn to breathe and let's in sunlight. That's my experience in the southern states in the US...it also helps to scalp the yard to start fresh before the growing season of either grasses, cool season or warm season grasses. That's the key point...
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Hey mate, for sure, agree, I only had cool season grass in mind when doing the video, I need to learn to bring up info about both. Good points!
We often mistake the dead grass for thatch, so your demo piece of lawn is great, thanks
Thanks for watching mate! 🙏
Agreed and I wish my customers cared enough to watch your video
I wish more people would watch my video too 😄
thanks for dropping by mate.
Won my subscription with clear explanation that experts managed to screw up
Hey mate, wow, thanks a lot, appreciate it, glad you found it helpful and thanks for the sub greatly appreciated :)
Thank you for clarification on the power rake. Even the stores sell it as a detcher.
Hey Cathy, glad it helped, yes that's part of the confusion, not sure if they really mean it should be able to take away thatch or if we are just into semantics here 🤷♂️
Thank you Sam.I now know the difference of raking & scarifying .I know now what I’ve been doing wrong.
Hey Jenny, thank you very much, really glad you found it helpful, just let me know if you have any other things you might be wondering about, always glad to help or even do a video if it's something lot of people wonder about :)
Hi Sam, great video. Nice and short but to the point. I now understand the difference between the power rake tool and the scarifier tool and I have been looking for an hour for clarification about it. So well done on that.
Hey Mate, glad you found it helpful. I did the same thing when I started out, couldn´t find an easy explanation anywhere, so I decided to make one myself. Thanks for dropping by dude, appreciate it 🙏
First video that really explains the difference in a way that is easy to understand, thank you.
Thanks Mikey, really appreciate it 🙏
You are right, there is a mix up with these attachments, I’m amazed there isn’t more vids explaining it, nice one.
Hey, Me too actually, first thing I did when I got one of these was to check RUclips to see if someone explained this but all I got was more annoyed and confused, so in the end I felt I had to do one myself :)
I just bought a dethatcher / scarifier and I was a little confused myself at other videos so thank you for clearing that up
Hey Samuel, thanks for watching mate, glad you found it helpful. I was also very confused the first time i bought one of these machines :)
It will take out dead grass and really does a good job. Used it many times on the Sun Joe.
It really does take out a lot, I think these machines are awesome for us homeowners, even if they aren´t that powerful.
DAM.... U NAILED IT. GREAT DEMO SHOWING THE PLUG OF GROUND AND GRASS. U R RIGHT. Still depends on the types of grass in one's area. But u did an awesome job describing the difference. Thanks again for your informative videos.
Thanks mate, really appreciate it 🙏
These kind of comments make my day dude 😁
I have a power rake/scarifyer with a combination of both blades and springs. I think the thatch - debris distinction is for people having separate tools.
Hey mate, yeah you might be right
Thanks for the video. You’re right about other channels confusing use of the word “de thatching” and which tool to use. I have two really bad areas of thatch that literally stops my mower when I run it over. It’s like 1/2 inch carpet and it’s really bad thick.
Thanks Stan, appreciate it. Most people have thatch, just have to think of it in longer terms, most people want to take care of it with one scarification and that's not happening. Lawn care is a marathon, just have to keep at it. Hope you get that thatch my man 😁
Absolutely. correct. Is confusing as power rake is sold as an aerator in Uk . Is hard to know when to use them. Was thinking that power rake is just a less effective scarifier that scrapes the surface and the scarifier. cuts through ground . Also on new lawns would not use power rake as with non established grass can lift the new seedlings if not well rooted. So as you say power rake for surface debris and scarifier for thatch in soil. . Is ideal for lawn renovation to use both to strip as much back before reseeding. Could only be described as aerator in the sense that it aerates the surface but not in traditional sense of hollow core aerators that aerate the ground / roots.
Couldn't agree more mate! Well said!
Finally! Thankyou for explaining. Also watched many many vids with no clear answer. Thankyou for explaining!! Thumbs up for you ;)
Thanks Cyrille, appreciate it mate, really glad you found the video helpful! :)
Sam I think you are spot on with your definitions of power rake and the scarifier used for the dethatching of your lawn. Great vid #justsubscribed
Hey Aaron, thanks so much mate, appreciate it 🙏
Sam, Thank you for clarifying the difference between the two. Now I know what I am suppose to do next.
Hi Gloria, glad you found it helpful, thanks a lot for watching.
Thanks I used the rake part just two days ago....now I will use the dethatcher
Awesome man, hope it turns out great! :)
Wow. What a revelation. Excellent explanation of what both tools do. I’ve been doing it wrong. Thank you so much.
Hey Andrew, thanks so much man, glad you found it helpful :)
Was your lawn looking better by doing it wrong?
Thanks so much. Finally an answer that makes sense. No wonder my lawn looks like crap.
Hey Ray, haha does it look like crap? Just give it some love next season, I believe in you mate! :)
Thanks for watching, glad you found it helpful.
New home owner here.
THANK YOU SO MUCH.!!!
Thank you Sir, glad you found it helpful, hopefully you don't have to be as confused as a new home owner as I was 5-6 years ago :)