The Best Lawn Dethatchers For A Healthy, Happy Lawn – Gear Hungry (2024)

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Lawn Dethatcher Buying Guide

• Why Trust Us
• Who This Is For
• How We Picked
• Features To Look For In Lawn Dethatchers
• Lawn Dethatcher FAQ

Why Trust Us

Because here, at Gear Hungry, we know our tools and gear, and that includes the best lawn dethatchers. A well-maintained lawn is a thing of beauty and those in our team who have lawns want to keep them looking their best. Aside from relying on good recommendations from our team members, we also conducted hours of research, comparing the best-sellers and evaluating each model on ergonomics, the durability of tines, and more.

Who This Is For

Our team put together this guide for homeowners or landscapers who are serious about yard maintenance. Excessive thatch is not only unsightly but can also prevent the lawn from thriving. If you're looking for a practical and efficient gardening tool to keep your lawn nicely dethatched, you will find it in this guide.

How We Picked

When choosing the best lawn dethatchers for this guide, we looked at the ones that were well-made, easy to use and, most importantly, did the job they were intended to do. Some people already have a range of gardening tools so we also wanted to look at lawn dethatchers that can be attached and used as accessories.

Features To Look For In Lawn Dethatchers

Electric vs. manual - Most lawn dethatchers are either electrically powered or manually operated.

• Electric - Electric-powered lawn dethatchers are reasonably lightweight and are pushed back and forth across the lawn in much the same way you would push a stand-up lawn mower. Electric-powered dethatchers get high marks for not producing noxious fumes like gas-powered lawn maintenance devices do. The motors on these devices (the best ones anyway) are well made and should stand up to repeated uses. But, unlike a lawn mower that you’ll be using every couple of weeks during the warm weather, you may only use an electric grass dethatcher once or twice a year. You should definitely look at dethatching your lawn in the early fall, but also in the spring to prevent thatch from forming and becoming difficult to deal with. It depends largely on the type of grass you have. Kentucky bluegrass for instance is a known thatch producer, whereas tall fescue grass produces very little thatch.
• Manual - Most manual (non-motorized) dethatchers are pulled along behind a riding lawn mower or they can be hitched to the back of a tractor. Their steel tines reach down into the lawn and pull up the thatch as you go. This can be an enormous time and labor saver since you can take care of mowing and thatching in one fell swoop. However, if you don’t have a sit-down mower, a manual dethatcher or a tow-behind model is not going to do you a lot of good. Still, you can use a push dethatcher which is more of a dethatching power rake.

Cord length - Most electric power dethatchers have short cords that typically don’t extend more than a couple of feet away from the device. The solution is as easy as connecting your lawn dethatcher using an extension cord. Keep in mind though that the longer the extension cord, the more you are subject to Ohm’s Law. Ohm’s Law states that the voltage is equal to the current x resistance. Resistance in wires increases over long distances. But this can be somewhat offset by the increased diameter of the cord. Essentially, if you have a long thin extension cord you can expect the voltage to drop significantly by the time the power reaches your electric lawn dethatcher. This will affect the performance of the device. If you do have a lot of ground to cover, invest in a heavy-duty extension cord and you will be able to extend your reach.

Power - The power of the motor on your electric lawn dethatcher is another important consideration. In most cases, dethatcher motors run from 8 to about 15 amps. Since we’re pretty much conditioned to think the more powerful an electric motor, the better electric motor, you might be tempted to choose the 15 amp motor. With lawn dethatchers though the “stronger equals better” equation doesn’t necessarily apply. This is because of the way a dethatcher works. Rather than wanting a big muscular dethatcher to get in there and scour the lawn of nasty thatch, it’s often better if the dethatcher works at a less punishing pace. Too much force might actually do damage to the roots of your lawn. So it’s recommended you look for a motor that falls into the middle of the power spectrum.

Collection bag - This may not be a deal killer when you first start looking at lawn dethatcher models but if the one you choose doesn’t have a collection bag you’ll be in for a long day of raking up the thatch after you loosen it up. While this may not be a problem for small to medium-sized yards, if you have a large yard, you'll have a whole lot of raking to do if your dethatcher doesn't have a collection bag.

Tines - While the motor gets most of the credit, it's really the tines on a lawn dethatcher that do the grunt work. The tines are basically metal fingers that reach down into the depths of the lawn, grab hold of the accumulated thatch and pull it to the surface. Without robust and effective tines, dethatching simply cannot occur. Tines are available in a variety of lengths and widths and are also fashioned from different materials. In addition, the wider the dethatcher the greater the number of tines will be in play. It’s recommended you always look for stainless steel tines as they will resist corroding and they will be robust enough to deal with the resistance the thatch is likely to produce.

Lawn Dethatcher FAQ

Q: What is lawn thatch?

A: Each time you mow the lawn some of the cut grass is left behind. Some of this may be grass seeds as well as other organic matter. Thatch usually consists of grass clippings as well as living and dead grass particles. If allowed to get thick enough, this thatch layer begins to cut off water, sun and nutrients to the lawn. The result is that your lawn begins to take on a brownish complexion because it’s being starved by the thatch. Not only that, but insects move in and take up residence in the nice safe thatch. They then spread out and attack the lawn while spreading diseases that further undermine the condition of the grass. In time the thatch will become so thick that it may even interfere with the ability of the mower to do its job.

Q: Can thatch formation be stopped?

A: Thatch formation is inevitable since it’s impossible to retrieve 100% of the cuttings every time you mow the lawn. And it's equally impossible to prevent dirt, dead leaves, and other debris from being carried into your yard by the wind and settling into the lawn. While you can't prevent thatch formation, you can manage it but removing as much of the cuttings as possible after mowing and using a dethatcher for lawns at least twice a year.

Also, go easy on the fertilizer. In most cases, the grass clippings left behind will break down and feed the soil so that nutrients can be absorbed by the roots which is often enough fertilizer. Adding more artificially may initially result in a thicker lawn, but when sunlight, nutrients, and water can't penetrate to get to the soil, you'll end up with more thatch than grass.

Q: Do you really need a grass dethatcher?

A: It really depends on the type of lawn you have. Interestingly, some of the more "high-end" lawns also need the most maintenance while some of the garden variety lawns are also low maintenance. That being said, all lawns should ideally be dethatched at least once or twice a year. If for no other reason than to thin out the grass, aerate the soil, and give water and nutrients the ability to get into the soil and feed the root system.

Keep in mind too that in most cases, the longer you wait to remove the thatch the more difficult the process will be. It may get to the point that you’ll need to both dethatch and aerate the soil to get lush growth happening again.

Q: When should I dethatch my lawn?

A: The best time to dethatch the lawn is during periods of active growth. In most cases, you won't need to do this during the colder months, but you may want to avoid dethatching over the hot summer months too, when the ground is hard and dry. The best time for dethatching lawns is in the early spring or early fall when the ground is moist and relatively soft.

But once again, when and how often you should dethatch your lawn also depends on the type of lawn you have. Thatch buildup is a relatively slow process in some lawns so you may only need to dethatch once a year or even once every couple of years. For other types of lawns, you may need to bring out the lawn dethatcher twice a year.

Sources:

1. What Is Thatch? - Center For Agriculture, Food, And The Environment
2. Managing Thatch In Home Lawns - University of Missouri Extension
3. When Is The Best Time To Dethatch Your Lawn? - Homes & Gardens