That's not thatch. A lot of people call it thatch but it is not. Thatch is a layer of roots/stems that develops between the soil and the crowns. You need to get a soil profile to see if you have thatch.

What you have there is dead leaves.

 

That's not thatch. A lot of people call it thatch but it is not. Thatch is a layer of roots/stems that develops between the soil and the crowns. You need to get a soil profile to see if you have thatch.

What you have there is dead leaves.

I see that makes sense, is there anything I am doing wrong that creates all this dead debris that I can't seem to cycle out of the yard? Is mowing a wet yard damaging to the grass? I've had to do that a few of the last mows.

 

Wet grass is harder for the mower to collect, and cut cleanly. You will get clumping pretty easily.

Are you collecting clippings at all or just trying to mulch?

 

Are you 100% sure it is 100% KBG lawn? Can you take a close up picture of the leaf blade? Are you irrigating?

 

That looks like you're just taking too much off and the mower isn't able to properly mulch the clippings.

As others have said wet grass won't mulch as well either.

You can try cutting more frequently, cutting higher on a first pass then lower on second, or side siding first pass then mulching on second.

 

Wet grass is harder for the mower to collect, and cut cleanly. You will get clumping pretty easily.

Are you collecting clippings at all or just trying to mulch?

I have a bagger setup for my mower than I have not been running all year. It is involving to take on and off but I think I'm going to have to reinstall to get this dead loss off the yard.

 

Are you 100% sure it is 100% KBG lawn? Can you take a close up picture of the leaf blade? Are you irrigating?

To my knowledge the yard should be 100% ***. The yard was sodded complete 3 seasons ago from a sod farm growing ***. No overseeding has been performed ever. I am irrigating with in grown irrigation when necessary. When I blow the clippings off the grass the yard is nice and green underneath

 

That looks like you're just taking too much off and the mower isn't able to properly mulch the clippings.

As others have said wet grass won't mulch as well either.

You can try cutting more frequently, cutting higher on a first pass then lower on second, or side siding first pass then mulching on second.

What do you mean by side siding? Do you feel it is very important to mulch vs bag? I typically have bagged but since the yard was lacking nutrients Late last season and into this season I've been mulching. I'm thinking of going back to bagging and just make sure I keep feeding frequently to keep the yard fed.

 

What blades are in the mower amd what mower? Not all blades mulch equal. I do notice that the grass looks greener at shorter 2.5 to 3 heights when bagged. Taller grass doesnt phaze it as much. I gave up mulching and just fees it. I like to control it anyway

 

This is what you could try:

1. Bag everything for a couple weeks and see if it makes a difference. Perhaps the mulch clippings are building up in the turf layer
2. Do a fall scalp. Take it down to 1.5-2" cutting off 1" at a time and bag everything (there will be a ton of material removed). Then hit it with fertilizer.
3. Make sure you are using a dedicated mulching blade and that your mowing deck isn't full of clumps.
4. Fertilize/water more so there is greater leaf turnover

 

That looks like you're just taking too much off and the mower isn't able to properly mulch the clippings.

As others have said wet grass won't mulch as well either.

You can try cutting more frequently, cutting higher on a first pass then lower on second, or side siding first pass then mulching on second.

What do you mean by side siding? Do you feel it is very important to mulch vs bag? I typically have bagged but since the yard was lacking nutrients Late last season and into this season I've been mulching. I'm thinking of going back to bagging and just make sure I keep feeding frequently to keep the yard fed.

Side shooting the clippings instead of mulching or bagging them if your mower can side shoot. This way you cut the lawn on the first pass shooting the clippings to the side then go over the lawn again and mulch the clippings on the second pass.

I mulch whenever I can for the beneficial reasons but I also hate bagging which is even more of an issue now since my township has rarely even picked up yard waste after the pandemic started.

 

Are you 100% sure it is 100% KBG lawn? Can you take a close up picture of the leaf blade? Are you irrigating?

To my knowledge the yard should be 100% KBG. The yard was sodded complete 3 seasons ago from a sod farm growing KBG. No overseeding has been performed ever. I am irrigating with in grown irrigation when necessary. When I blow the clippings off the grass the yard is nice and green underneath

Can you take a close up image of the grass?

 

Are you 100% sure it is 100% KBG lawn? Can you take a close up picture of the leaf blade? Are you irrigating?

To my knowledge the yard should be 100% KBG. The yard was sodded complete 3 seasons ago from a sod farm growing KBG. No overseeding has been performed ever. I am irrigating with in grown irrigation when necessary. When I blow the clippings off the grass the yard is nice and green underneath

Can you take a close up image of the grass?

 

Can you zoom even more? And you do need sharper blades or more blade speed.

 

looks like some PRG stalks in there. either way that stuff is dense, wow.

have you ever pulled a plug to look at the profile?