Garden Answers (UK)

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN AN ELECTRIC LAWN RAKE

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While using a spring-tine rake once a year will go a long way towards clearing thatch, and is certainly perfect for raking out dead moss and other loose debris, this isn’t strictly scarifying. True scarifying involves using a tool with steel cutting blades – sometimes referred to as a slitter. These cut and slice through the thatch and through the shoots and stolons of the lawn grasses, encouragin­g them to regenerate and produce new growth. This form of lawn pruning or ‘tillering’ causes extra shoots to grow, helping to thicken the turf. Pulling a hand slitter through a thatch-choked lawn is a tiring process that will land you with a mass of blisters unless you wear gloves. A scarifier/slitter that rolls around on a pair of sturdy wheels is far more comfortabl­e, easier and quicker.

Save your back

If you want a more profession­al-looking job with less backache, go for a powered scarifier or lawn rake. These can do a far better job than you could ever do by hand. There are essentiall­y two types to choose from: a powered lawn rake/scarifier, which has rotating wire tines, and a scarifier/ slitter, which uses rotating solid metal blades. If you’re not sure which to use, look for those machines with interchang­eable cassettes: wires for moss and raking, blades for scarifying and de-thatching. An electric model is fine for lawns up to 350sq m (420sq yd); for larger lawns you’ll need a petrol model – or hire a petrol model as and when you need it. Moss is probably the biggest scourge of a quality lawn, but it’s important not to scarify or rake out live moss. If you do, you’ll just spread it further and make the problem worse. Always kill it first, applying a mosskiller two weeks before scarifying. To be really effective, re-apply a mosskiller after scarifying or raking. This will kill any moss unaffected by the first treatment. Although any lawn mosskiller will tackle moss, it’s important to understand why it grows in the first place. Moss is a symptom of poor growing conditions, and it will keep coming back unless you address them. It’s always worse on waterlogge­d or badly drained soil (often as a result of thatch build-up) and will thrive if the lawn is in shade, or if the soil is alkaline or acidic. Lawns on compacted heavy clay soil generally have a moss problem because here the moss will thrive while grass grows poorly. Moss is also a problem if the lawn isn’t fed or mown properly. Annual raking and scarifying will certainly help; the tools here are designed for the task.

“Scarifying is the process by which thatch and other debris is removed from the turf”

 ??  ?? MOTOR The more powerful the motor, measured in Watts, the better and deeper it can rake and scarify
HEIGHT ADJUSTER Make sure this is
easy to use. It helps you adjust the height that the tines or blades enter the ground on each pass up and down the...
MOTOR The more powerful the motor, measured in Watts, the better and deeper it can rake and scarify HEIGHT ADJUSTER Make sure this is easy to use. It helps you adjust the height that the tines or blades enter the ground on each pass up and down the...
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