[Deere Jr]

It's a late spring here in MN. My snow has just melted away. Much of the grass is still dormant, with spots of green here and there.

How long should I wait to do a heavy dethatch? I'll be dethatching with a front mounted rotary broom.

 

[Tsmith]

Why are you dethatching?

 

[Deere Jr]

Oops. I should have said that.

The dethatching is part of a smoothing project. I'll be spreading 28 yards of sand in about an acre of lawn to help reduce the bumps. I want to dethatch first.

 

[Tsmith]

Dethatching disturbs the soil so I think you would be better off doing it in the fall instead of spring if you even have to do it at all as I wouldn't recommend doing it just to do it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

spreading 28 yards of sand

By hand!?
You should wait until the turf has fully awoken and is actively growing. A third of a pound of N/M before de-thatching will help recovery.

 

[Pete1313]

spreading 28 yards of sand

By hand!?
You should wait until the turf has fully awoken and is actively growing. A third of a pound of N/M before de-thatching will help recovery.

Agreed. Wait for the turf to get going. That will be a few weeks yet for your area. Dethatch, clean everything up, mow as short as possible, add some N, sand, and then time your pre-m for just after.

 

[thinair]

Had same question. Just bought the greenworks electric dethatcher. Itching to try it out.

I aerated and lightly over seeded in fall.

Want to dethatcher in spring and add more seed.

 

[Deere Jr]

spreading 28 yards of sand

By hand!?
You should wait until the turf has fully awoken and is actively growing. A third of a pound of N/M before de-thatching will help recovery.

Agreed. Wait for the turf to get going. That will be a few weeks yet for your area. Dethatch, clean everything up, mow as short as possible, add some N, sand, and then time your pre-m for just after.

Ridgerunner - LOL, no not by hand. That would suck. I'll be using a Turfo f12d for the spreading of sand.

Pete - Thanks for the tips. I wondered about the pre-m. I usually use a fertilizer + crabgrass control granular.