Well as spring appears to be arriving it'll soon be time to start doing my grass again – a weekly job I find quite relaxing for some reason. Last year I wasn't quite as good with it as I have been and there seems to be a rather nice thatch to it and some moss started appearing. I'm thinking I need to scarify the grass to remove the thatch and moss but when would be a good time to do this? I'm expecting the grass to look rather bald after it's been done, I've got plenty of grass on the ground but the thatch make it looks almost quilt-like and I suspect removing this will expose some bare sections.

I'm not wanting to scalp it, but I'd like to remove the thatch and moss (which will then help it drain a bit better), get something down to help the grass to spread and fill in the gaps that the thatch removal has produced (and prevent space for weeds to grow).

I suspect this is going to be a spring/summer/autumn on-going job so not expecting it to be done in 1 sitting – but what is recommended?

When should I scarify (I suspect it's still a couple of weeks too early as I think we will still have a few frosty morning to come)?

What should I then put down on the newly scarified grass to help grass growing – grass seed and some all-in-one growing stuff? Grass sand(whatever that is!)?

My plan would be to but it weekly as normnal but I'm wanting to remove the spongy/springy feeling the thatch gives it…the grass always look good but not great when you walk on it – got a young daughter who likes playing so I'd like the grass to be a bit better as I suspect without the thatch and moss it's going to be a bit more durable.

Cheers.

Heres all you need to know

I couldnt believe how bad the lawn was at our place when we moved in a couple of years ago

I borrowed a scarifier which totally transformed it – and you honestly wont believe how much crud it picks up from the lawn – but it does look at bit threadbare for a week or so after

Id start looking on ebay for a scarifier now if I were you
I started looking in May by which time the seasons in full swing and there was too much competition for a bargain

You need someone local to be flogging one and a bit of good fortune

Cheers

Easist and cheapest to hire a scarifier – good lawn equipment shops should have them. Do it as soon as you can as the grass starts as long there will not be a frost within the week.

Also hire an aerator. Biggest help to moss is damp conditions caused by compacted earth stopping water permeating the soil. Help the grass and hinders the moss. Again a good lawn care place will rent them

Got a scarifier – bought a Black&Decker electric thing – mental amount of thatch got stripped last year but I think I did it too late in the season and nothing actually happened to improve it.

Thanks for the link, will go for a read…hoping to get it kicked started ASAP to get rid of it this year…not expecting completed results this year but I am hoping that by middle of summer the patches are much smaller or almost gone.

Got a large fork so will also start stabbing the ground to improve irrigation.

Cheers.

Honestly, go and hire a hollow tine aerator from a shop. A fork is better than nothing but will take forever to do a mediocre job and the holes fill up quickly. The HTA takes plugs out of the soil and is 100x more effective

Righto, actually think my brother-in-law may have one so I'll pinch that…handy to know…didn't think about the aireating aspect…just thought it was needing scarified (scalped!).