Scarifying is like verticutting. Not like aeration which involves removing small plugs from your soil. The scarifying will remove the thatch.

 

Better to verticut than scarify on Bermuda. That will remove thatch as well but also thin it out. Fertilizer and other nutrients get to the soil better. It's made a difference on mine.

 

Scarify and dethatching are a waste of time on bermuda. You will just rip up stolons and thin out the grass unnecessarily. Plus you will be throwing filling green waste all day for no reason. Just my opinion. I have done it in the past, but my scarifier/detatcher collects dust while my grass is now healthier.

 

Where can I purchase a verticut?

 

Most people around here use a SunJoe scarifyer. I bought one that is similar on Amazon for about $150.

Whether you need to or not is really a matter up to you. Some lawns get very think that will cause your mower to float, and verticutting fixes that. I had a section that got spongy to walk on due to thatch build up so I verticut it two weeks ago. It’s almost fully recovered.

Verticutting will also cut stolons to create new growth points for the grass.

 

Word of caution ⚠

Do not scarify or Verticut your lawn! Why?

Well…..

You’re gonna buy a Sunjoe and scarify. It’s gonna clean it all up and grow back and look beautiful.

Then you’re gonna do it again to promote lateral growth and your grass is gonna spread and look beautiful.

Then you’re gonna want to go lower and the sunjoe might be a little to rough so you’re gonna start sharpening the blades to get a cleaner cut.

And it’s going to look beautiful.

Then you’re going to want to go greens height and the you will need to graduate beyond the sunjoe and you’re faced with finding a new reel with swappable cartridges or seek out a dedicated Verticutter, both of which will cost you thousands. Either way. Your lawn will look beautiful.

Do not. I repeat do not scarify. It starts you down a dark rabbit hole.

Thanks for coming to my ted talk.

 

Just remember: scarifying and verticutting are two different things.

 

Ok, I will bite. What’s the difference.

 

You can verticut multiple times per season to keep the mower from floating, take out sponginess, reduce graininess, or thin the turf for a better HOC reset. The SunJoe is a fantastic machine for the price but forget about the bag. Pick up the debris with a rotary mower. Use the fixed blades on Bermuda/Zoysia; throw the spring tines into the corner of your workshop never to see daylight again.

I once had a greenskeeper tell me he verticut the greens three times per season and wished he could do it monthly or even bi-weekly but the members would tar and feather him if he did it more often. FWIW, we were talking greens, not lawns, so take that with a grain of salt.

 

The SunJoe is a fantastic machine for the price but forget about the bag. Pick up the debris with a rotary mower.

I have just used the grass catcher on my reel mower and it works almost as well. I dont get the suction of rotary, but I dont have the room for another mower.

 

Redtwin, EXACTLY my experience with the Sunjoe.

I verticut about 8 weeks ago and about to do it again. I'm going to be gone for 4 weeks at the beginning of September and hope that between that, a scalp and some solid PGR that it doesn't look too bad when I get home!

 

Word of caution ⚠

Do not scarify or Verticut your lawn! Why?

Well…..

You’re gonna buy a Sunjoe and scarify. It’s gonna clean it all up and grow back and look beautiful.

Then you’re gonna do it again to promote lateral growth and your grass is gonna spread and look beautiful.

Then you’re gonna want to go lower and the sunjoe might be a little to rough so you’re gonna start sharpening the blades to get a cleaner cut.

And it’s going to look beautiful.

Then you’re going to want to go greens height and the you will need to graduate beyond the sunjoe and you’re faced with finding a new reel with swappable cartridges or seek out a dedicated Verticutter, both of which will cost you thousands. Either way. Your lawn will look beautiful.

Do not. I repeat do not scarify. It starts you down a dark rabbit hole.

Thanks for coming to my ted talk.

Word of caution ⚠

Do not scarify or Verticut your lawn! Why?

Well…..

You’re gonna buy a Sunjoe and scarify. It’s gonna clean it all up and grow back and look beautiful.

Then you’re gonna do it again to promote lateral growth and your grass is gonna spread and look beautiful.

Then you’re gonna want to go lower and the sunjoe might be a little to rough so you’re gonna start sharpening the blades to get a cleaner cut.

And it’s going to look beautiful.

Then you’re going to want to go greens height and the you will need to graduate beyond the sunjoe and you’re faced with finding a new reel with swappable cartridges or seek out a dedicated Verticutter, both of which will cost you thousands. Either way. Your lawn will look beautiful.

Do not. I repeat do not scarify. It starts you down a dark rabbit hole.

Thanks for coming to my ted talk.

#Facts. I fell down this rabbit hole and all that was mentioned took place. Including the costs lol.
EDT: And my lawn has looked beautiful.

 

Scarifier with the tines really is designed just to pull thatch out but with Bermuda it will really damage the stolons. The verticutter has discs that cut grooves to thin out the canopy.

 

I've always used "scarifying" and "verticutting" interchangeably. "Dethatching" is with the tines and should not be used on Bermuda/Zoysia. Grooming is the same as scarifying but not nearly as deep and aggressive.

 

I have all the tools mentioned and have used them all (cal trimmer catalyst with scarifier, verticutter, and a tow behind dethatcher).

I use the dethatcher to harvest sprigs-it’s been the best tool for rip up stolons and use them to repair/expand my turf.

scarifier is much more gentle on the grass-it really acts as a comb pulling up debris; it does pull up some stolons but I’ve found it to be a pretty “gentle” tool-I typically don’t see any stress on the grass after using it.

verticutter is in the middle of the 2-does a great job thinning it out as others mentioned-the cal trimmer verticutter I’ve found is not as aggressive as ones you can rent .

agree with the earlier post on verticutting more frequently-I’ve been doing it monthly this year-we’ve had fantastic growing conditions this year and thinning it out has been a must

different tools for different purposes.

 

The SunJoe verticutter works very well, especially if you use your grinder to sharpen the blades. For what it does to benefit your lawn, it is a bargain at $160. Verticut my lawn last weekend for the 2nd time this season and will probably do it one more time this year.

When you get your SunJoe from Amazon, take the dethatching cartridge and the grass catcher and throw them in the garbage. They're useless.