Almost Verticutting Time

With the Verticutting season almost here I decided to build a completely new Verticutter. The old Ryan machine well over thirty years old died. The newer version of the Ryan Mataway, was never designed for St. Augustine grasses. We had to modify them to keep them from destroying a  St. Augustine lawn. Personally, I have never seen a Verticutter designed for St. Augustine grasses.

So then why not build a Verticutter to do a faster more efficient job?  With years of experience in landscape maintenance and Verticutting, you collect all kinds of stuff. Enough stuff to build a bran new machine, more powerful, more versatile, and capable of Verticutting soccer and ball fields faster, and of course St. Augustine grasses, more efficiently.

WHY VERTICUTTING

Like many plants, grass has a below ground root system topped by a living, above ground shoot that’s green and growing. In between lies a layer known as thatch. Some thatch is natural and good for a lawn, but too much can usher in problems.

Comprised of leaves, stems and roots – some living, some dead – thatch forms as a natural part of turf’s growing process. It lies on top of the soil, a tightly woven layer beneath the visible grass blades. As long as it doesn't get thicker than 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch, thatch actually contributes to lawn health in these ways:

• Mulching soil and slowing water loss
• Cushioning soil and decreasing compaction
• Insulating grass crowns from soil temperature swings
• Improving turf tolerance to foot and mower traffic

A problem arises when thatch develops into a thicker layer and forms a wedge between grass and soil. Too-thick thatch diminishes lawn health by:

Thatch

• Forming an impervious layer that prevents water, fertilizer, and insect or disease controls from reaching soil
• Blocking sunlight from reaching lower grass blades
• Holding moisture against grass blades, which can foster disease
• Blocking soil so that grass roots grow into nutrient-lacking thatch, which forms a shallow-rooted lawn
• Creating an uneven lawn, which leads to uneven mowing and scalping

What Causes Thatch?

Although thatch forms naturally, some situations promote rapid thatch formation:

• Over fertilizing with too much nitrogen
• Over watering
• Always mowing too high

Certain grasses tend to form thicker thatch layers. Creeping turf types that spread by above- and underground stems often rapidly form thatch; this includes St. Augustine grass, Bermuda grass and zoysia grass. Cool-season grasses, such as bent grass and aggressive Kentucky bluegrass varieties, also can quickly form thatch, especially if soil is compacted and turf hasn't been properly fertilized for a few years.

If you use a mulching mower and leave grass clippings on the lawn, that does not lead to thatch formation. Those are healthy practices that can help prevent thatch formation. Typically grass clippings decompose readily. Thatch arises from grass stems and roots in the top inches of soil that die and don’t fully decompose. http://www.bayeradvanced.com/

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