De-thatch and/or Aerate?

[Tvflguy]

Our grass - Zoysia, is doing OK so far this year. But not great. Irrig and feeding is fine, but never had our lawn (8 years old) aerated or de thatched.

We use Dean’s for fertilizing but would prefer your personal feedback. Is it too late in season to have these services done?

[Two Bills]

Our grass - Zoysia, is doing OK so far this year. But not great. Irrig and feeding is fine, but never had our lawn (8 years old) aerated or de thatched.

We use Dean’s for fertilizing but would prefer your personal feedback. Is it too late in season to have these services done?

Not familiar with Florida grasses, but aeration is usually used on heavy or well trodden grass.
With Florida's sandy soil would not think it would be needed.
De-thatching, followed with a good loam type top dressing could definitely be beneficial.

[thelegges]

Call Adam from black cow. He does both Aeration and detaching. It’s an honest company and will tell you exactly what you need. We’ve been using him since 2010. 855-475-2225

[Tvflguy]

Call Adam from black cow. He does both Aeration and detaching. It’s an honest company and will tell you exactly what you need. We’ve been using him since 2010. 855-475-2225

Thank you for that. I’ve heard of him. Will contact. Thx

[retiredguy123]

I have Zoysia grass and Massey does the fertilizing, etc. They say that aeration is not necessary. If your soil is sandy, you may be wasting your money.

[mtdjed]

Our grass - Zoysia, is doing OK so far this year. But not great. Irrig and feeding is fine, but never had our lawn (8 years old) aerated or de thatched.

We use Dean’s for fertilizing but would prefer your personal feedback. Is it too late in season to have these services done?

I have always been proud of my ability to have a good-looking yard until I got here with my Zoysia lawn. Gradually deteriorated and finally turned to Trugreen. Lawn slightly improved but not great. Switched to Falcon (now Arrow) as did several neighbors and we all notice improvement.

[Michigan Farmer]

I've talked to the Extension Service about dethatching and was told it should be done from late Spring until August. I dethatched mine by hand last August and all but killed it, it's just too hot and there isn't enough time for it to recover before dormancy. They also told me not by any means to do it in the fall. If you do it with a vertical mower, two ways, it is very very stressful to the grass. On the other hand eight years of over water and over fert. which I was guilty of created a great amount of thatch which had to be taken care of.

[jrref]

I had a problem with brown spots on my zoysia lawn apparently these areas were not getting enough water. I called Adams-earth and had them do aeration. Adam is very knowledgable and will be able to tell you what's wrong. In my case the brown spots are gone. Dethatching is also important but it can only be done a certain time of the year but aeration is the most important.

[bowlingal]

I had Adams earth dethatch and aerate in Feb. I have zoysia grass. He only dethatches from Oct-Feb. I would to the dethatchng again, but not the aeration. the total cost of both these items was not expensive. I think $180 ( I have a corner lot). A multitude of tiny holes and the plops of dirt removed and left on the lawn was not to my liking and the area is way to big to rake all those little plops. Eventually they were pushed back into the soil by the mower, my walking on it, and rain. And here it is almost July and I see no improvement in the grass or color. I did take advantage of the little holes and put grass seed in some of them ( zoysia seed which is very expensive) but, can't notice a difference. Watered almost everyday and talked lovingly to it, but, alas.......

[Two Bills]

I had Adams earth dethatch and aerate in Feb. I have zoysia grass. He only dethatches from Oct-Feb. I would to the dethatchng again, but not the aeration. the total cost of both these items was not expensive. I think $180 ( I have a corner lot). A multitude of tiny holes and the plops of dirt removed and left on the lawn was not to my liking and the area is way to big to rake all those little plops. Eventually they were pushed back into the soil by the mower, my walking on it, and rain. And here it is almost July and I see no improvement in the grass or color. I did take advantage of the little holes and put grass seed in some of them ( zoysia seed which is very expensive) but, can't notice a difference. Watered almost everyday and talked lovingly to it, but, alas.......

Grass seed germinates on surface.
Evidently Zoysia grass seed needs lots of sunlight to germinate.
Not a lot of sun down those plug holes!

[DAVES]

Our grass - Zoysia, is doing OK so far this year. But not great. Irrig and feeding is fine, but never had our lawn (8 years old) aerated or de thatched.

We use Dean’s for fertilizing but would prefer your personal feedback. Is it too late in season to have these services done?

We also have empire zoysia like most lawn issues, thatch builds over years. According to my reading it should be dethatched every three years. It opens up the lawn. It can encourage weeds. With empire zoysia it is in it's prime growing season so NOW is a good time to have it done or to do it.

We have a 5,000 sq foot lawn. I bought an amateur grade machine, if I recall from wallmart for $100. Due to a far too small catch thing, I found quickly to just not use it but, to use a fan rake to pick up all the stuff it removed. I took out of my lawn roughly 20 of those large paper lawn bags and I really packed it down and filled to the top. It is work. I did one section at a time. so not too bad.

Aerating, my view a waste of time and money. Those plugs they take out go down about two inches. A properly cared for lawn has roots down around 8 inches or more.
I did aerate sort of my lawn. We have sandy clay soil in most of the villages. Also a lot of work. I did one section at a time. I took an old auger bit, largest made 1.5 inches.
I cut off the pyramid mount and put it into a 3 foot extension so I did not need to bend.
With my rechargeable drill a fairly powerful one, I drilled holes down 6 inches every 3-4 inches in my lawn and I filled them with manure. It took 70 50 lb bags. My lawn needs far less watering than others due to the organic matter. It also makes our too alkaline
soil, more acidic. Our PH was 7.5 now holding at 6.8. 6.5 is ideal for grass.

[Rwirish]

Call Adams Earth. Aeration is beneficial. The problem is Zoysia grass is plain terrible.

[bowlingal]

Grass seed germinates on surface.
Evidently Zoysia grass seed needs lots of sunlight to germinate.
Not a lot of sun down those plug holes!


two Bills...if you read the directions on the Scotts bag of zoysia seed, it tells you to scape the soil first, put the seed down, then cover with top soil and water. So, it is not on the surface. Also, they do germinate in the sun/shade as I can attest to.

[gbs317]

I have St. Augustine grass on sandy soil…. what are the needs for this type regarding thatching and aerating…Thx

[Bill1701]

Our grass - Zoysia, is doing OK so far this year. But not great. Irrig and feeding is fine, but never had our lawn (8 years old) aerated or de thatched.

We use Dean’s for fertilizing but would prefer your personal feedback. Is it too late in season to have these services done?

We dethatched our lawn a while back. It looked horrible for over 6 months. The company came back and had to apply some fertilizer to a couple areas. It looks good now.

[OhioBuckeye]

Well I always say if it’s not broke don’t fix it. If you fertilize it & it looks good why try to fix it! Mine looks good & I’ve never had mine thatched or anything else.

[greendrake]

It’s too late to dethatch but aeration is always an immediate alternative.
Dethatch from October til may. I’ve used Adam’s earth several times and it’s been great. Local guy not pushy. We are very happy with him
(352) 342-1384

[Two Bills]

two Bills...if you read the directions on the Scotts bag of zoysia seed, it tells you to scape the soil first, put the seed down, then cover with top soil and water. So, it is not on the surface. Also, they do germinate in the sun/shade as I can attest to.


As I said, I am not familiar with Zoysia, more a Rye grass, Fescue, and Bent grass man myself, so I looked up germinating Zoysia from seed, and both the sites I read, advised loosening top soil/sand, fertilizing, scattering seed seed on surface, rolling/treading seed in, and watering.
Likes sun, and not best for shady areas.
So there you go. Always more than one way of skinning a cat.

[Happydaz]

As I said, I am not familiar with Zoysia, more a Rye grass, Fescue, and Bent grass man myself, so I looked up germinating Zoysia from seed, and both the sites I read, advised loosening top soil/sand, fertilizing, scattering seed seed on surface, rolling/treading seed in, and watering.
Likes sun, and not best for shady areas.
So there you go. Always more than one way of skinning a cat.

There are a number of zoysia varieties. The zoysia grass planted in many parts of the Villages is Empire Zoysia, a patented variety, from Sod Solutions. Empire Zoysia cannot be planted as seed so you need to use sod or plugs for replanting. The zoysia seed that is sold in stores or on line is another variety and may not give a uniform appearance to your lawn. I usually just cut out some large plugs (3-4 inches in diameter and 4-5 inches deep) out of my Empire lawn in the back yard and replant in the bare spots out in the front lawn. Big plugs planted six inches apart can fill in very quickly here in Florida. I mistakenly grabbed the “wrong weed killer”, i.e. a grass killer, and destroyed a sizable area of my lawn. I planted these large plugs into my front lawn in February and they have almost completely filled in already. You can buy plugs from Sod Solutions but they are small and expensive. Just harvest your back yard, refill holes back there with the dirt you dig out of the front yard and both areas will eventually fill in. You need to stay on top of frequent watering and fertilizing until the plugs start to take off growing.

[DAVES]

two Bills...if you read the directions on the Scotts bag of zoysia seed, it tells you to scape the soil first, put the seed down, then cover with top soil and water. So, it is not on the surface. Also, they do germinate in the sun/shade as I can attest to.

There are many varieties of zoysia grass. In the villages they have plated Empire Zoysia. It is planted by plugs or actually sprigs-one grass plant. It does not produce a viable seed. The zoysia seed that you can purchase is not the same as what you have. A grower produces sod, and we lay it down. The problem is there is no preparation of the,"soil," that they lay the sod on top of.

[DAVES]

I have St. Augustine grass on sandy soil…. what are the needs for this type regarding thatching and aerating…Thx

Care of St Augustine is actually a different animal. Empire Zoysia spreads by under ground runners. St. Augustine has it's runners above ground. Dethatching it with the machine set low will tear out live grass. Chemistry. We all with Empire Zoysia and using, "professional," mowers who do both commonly found lawn types end up with intrusions of St Augustine grass. An easy solution broadleaf weed killer 24d will kill St Augustine at lower levels than will kill empire zoysia.

[DAVES]

It’s too late to dethatch but aeration is always an immediate alternative.
Dethatch from October til may. I’ve used Adam’s earth several times and it’s been great. Local guy not pushy. We are very happy with him
(352) 342-1384

No shortage of OPINIONS. Am proud to declare my lawn can't read. Dethatching opens up the soil and can allow weeds to grow. Empire Zoysia a hot weather grass starts to grow around April. We all suffer from spring fever BUT, you should put down your first application of fertilzer in last week of march first week or two in April. Too early and you are encouraging the early growing weeds. The pros are not busy in October so looking for income will do it too early.

[NoMoSno]

No shortage of OPINIONS. Am proud to declare my lawn can't read. Dethatching opens up the soil and can allow weeds to grow. Empire Zoysia a hot weather grass starts to grow around April. We all suffer from spring fever BUT, you should put down your first application of fertilzer in last week of march first week or two in April. Too early and you are encouraging the early growing weeds. The pros are not busy in October so looking for income will do it too early.
Should also put down pre-emergent in Feb. when soil temp reaches 50-55 deg.