You are exactly right Sir. I am a professional gardener in Cornwall in the UK, & I can whole heartedly agree that you're not going to get thatch up using the sprung tines of the power rake. You need the blades of the scarifying attachment for that job. Mow, scarify, power rake, job done.
Thanks mate! So nice to hear that from a professional! I really can't see how the spring tines can take up thatch deeper in the soil. Glad you found the channel mate. :)
I think you did a good job with your explanation of Debris VS Thatch --- I was ignorant about this topic. I had an email with Scott's about some stuff and in their advise to me, they mentioned to Power Rake. -- I had no idea what a power rake was -- so that led me into the thatch realm --- Again -- you did a good job with your explanation.
Hey Jack, thanks a lot mate, very glad you got something out of the videos, makes it all worth it. Thanks for stopping by and letting me know too, appreciate it mate! 🙏🙏
Nice video and explanation Sam. I totally agree with you. Also using the scarification attachment also creates good seed to soil contact for over seeding, the seed can nestle in the groves created. Keep it up buddy 👍
Like you I also am a bit of a lawn nut. I also purchased a alko and used to struggle with which tool to use. It’s taking me a couple of seasons to get to grips with it but I totally with everything you have mentioned in your presentation’s. Well done Sam for sharing your views.
After watching a million videos to try to work out what the two attachments in my new Greenworks actually does I think your videos are leading me there very well so thanks! I’m not sure if the scarifier attachment can replace an aerator use though. I think I’ll power rake and fix patches to start with and leave the scarifier alone until I see what’s what, don’t want to damage the lawn in the early stages. I love your germination method for repair too. Can’t think of any rude insults like some others hahaha…
haha thanks man, I mean just think hard and I am sure you can come up with at least ONE insult, I feel you are not really trying enough! :D I am glad you found the video helpful, and I think you are right about it not replacing an aerator. Well, not an aerator as I see it, like a hollow core aerator or something similar. But if you would consider your lawn areated when cutting grooves in it, then sure, it will "aerate" the lawn. I would say use the scarifier only IF you have thatch issues, otherwise it will as you say just stress the lawn too much, and for no good reason. I only use the power rake when overseeding or if I just want to take away debris from the lawn. Very rarely use the scarifier.
I think pretty much spot on. Manufacturers will name/label with sales in mind. Thatch has become a common name for debris and most people will use it interchangeable but like you said once you start digging a little, pun intended, you will know the difference.
you need a little thatch to decompose to help tour lawn ,so springtine attachment is for above ground level ,its for removing dead grass. solid one is for dethatching and aerating, great for overseeding.
Constructive criticism opens channels for good debate and conversation, unfortunately some just get a kick out of throwing insults. I've chosen to not spend time engaging with them, I'd rather spend that time having good conversations with people regardless of whether they agree with me. You sometimes learn from those interactions and the information they share from their point of view makes you stop and think. Nice video Sir...
@@SamsLawn Our summer water is from snow melt and the mountains are quite bare right now so...yes! .....please send some cold this way and we will provide you with floods in the low lands!
Absolutely agree with your take on this subject Sam. Will you be dethaching with the scarification attachment this coming spring? I have never done it and am curious to see how quickly the lawn will bounce back from it.
Hey Matthew, thanks dude, always appreciate it! Not sure actually, it might be the first season in a while I don't have to do it. I am starting over next year so I am killing off the lawn come spring :) but it Usually takes around 3-4-5 weeks depending on the grass types you have and the weather. Rye and KBG are great at bouncing back and spreading like crazy after scarifying. Thanks for watching dude
@@matthewfsharp No other reason other than me wanting to try different grass types and cultivars. I want to try perennial rye and KBG. 99% of Swedish lawn installations like mine have creeping red fescue, want to try something different. Let me know if you decide to do it as well, want to know follow along your progress too :)
Hey David my man, long time no see, glad to hear that you kept it green through winter dude! Well done! Even I didn't manage that, had a lot of snow though so not my fault :D keep it up dude!
I have the 2 in 1 cobra electric scarifier which I bought this year. Never used it before and it worked well. I scarified and aerated and then re seeded and grass is much better. I wiil probably use it again in Spring next year just to get my use out of it. Would you recommend to scarify again ? I am from the UK. Like your videos.
Hey Stephen, thanks for watching dude, appreciate it. Well, it depends, pull a plug and see you have a lot of thatch, or if your lawn is a bit thin then I would do it again. Scarifying will remove thatch and let air, nutrients and water get down to the soil easier AND it will cut the grass blades promoting growth, so you get that thick nice turf. So it depends, If you already have a thick lawn and no thatch problem, then I wouldn't do it, no need then.
Another thing that I heard Sam was about aerating. Some say spikes on feet.or garden forks Others say ridiculous idea because it will compress the soil to each side thus worsening compaction Others swear by hollow metal tines taking plugs out. Then there's an argument whether to leave the plugs on the lawn and work in with a lawnmower or dispose of them? Also others say use a auger drill bit as most people have a drill but no hollow tine and they get clogged up quickly. Now I read the drill method would drag the root and rhizomes of the grass towards it tearing all the root system etc??? Some say scarifying is all the aeration you need and depending on soil type. Eg heavy clay the holes close up within a matter of weeks so pointless lol
Well, I have a roller with spikes, works great to get some quick air, nutrients and water down to the roots, but over time (years) it would contribute to compaction since you are basically pressing soil together. I still do it though, benefits are great, especially early spring, really brings the lawn back to life faster. I actually have a video on aeration, I use a drill bit there too, works great for smaller areas and as for damage, I mean it does the same as a hollow core aerator would do, can't see that it would cause any more damage. When it comes to aeration people say alot of different things. Me personally, I would't consider scarifying aeration, you cut grooves into the thatch layer, but that's usually 1 cm down, what if you have 2 cm thatch? Then you are not aerating letting anything down to the roots. So hollow core aeration is the only way for me to truly aerating your lawn. I always pick up the plugs since it just looks bad on the lawn, but you could leave them or run them over with a mower, they do contain nutrients, personal preference I would say :D Good questions dude, you are on your way down the nerd rabbit hole now, welcome haha :D
@@SamsLawn haha and yea that's cleared a few things up. I suppose people can overthink stuff I'll have to view a few of your older videos. I've seen other gardening vids here but some are OTT super professionals and I'm just a newbie Yours seem easily watchable without too much technicalities
@@ciararespect4296 glad you see them that way, I felt just like you starting out and most channels got way too technical for me, I want to show that you can get a decent lawn while keeping it simple 😊
I use the dethaching accessory only - and that is only when I do overseeding my lawn. In my experience, those machines (I have sun joe version) performs best when you aim for power raking.
I also mostly use the power rake, have been using the scarifier more last years since I do have quite the thatch build up. But I agree with you, these machines mostly work best with the power rake. I feel like with the amount of thatch I have I would be better served getting a professional machine to scarify. Thanks for watching dude! 🙏
I've only ever used the power rake so next spring I will put the scarifier attachment on and give it a go ......Will be interesting to see what happens 🤔 . The power rake attachment does wonder's for my grass so in theory the scarifier attachment should work better in the long run??? Great debate tho Sam 👌
I use the power rake a lot, it's way better for the grass, the scarifier is way harsher so I only use that if I really have to, if I have too much thatch or the grass is looking thinner and I want to thicken it up. Otherwise it's power rake all the way :) So it depends what state your lawn is in, do you know if you have alot of thatch Richard? Thanks for watching btw, as always, I appreciate it alot dude :)
Hi Sam. It is all very confusing. I have 2 cartridges for my Allett, a scarifier and what Allett calls an aerator. The scarifying cartridge has lots of spring tines and does take a lot out. The aerator just barely penetrate the soil so I don't think it's justified calling it an aerator. If you google them you will see what they look like. I also have the Bosch AVR 1100, this is sold as a scarifier/verticutter. Some retailers call it a rake . To me it is more a verticutter than a scarifier. After all that I do agree with you. Thank you you.
Hey Ray, Allett is actually one of the ones that confused me in the beginning, I think the cartridge they call scarifier is a power rake, to me that one does not create "scars" in the soil, it just rakes it but power driven. The aerator they have, that one has solid blades but they are pointy, so that one is pretty much a power driven garden fork, punches alot of holes in the ground to let air, nutrients and water through. They do have another cartridge they call "de-thatcher", that one is the one I would use to de-thatch/scarify, wide metal blades that can go below the surface and pull some of that thatch out. The Bosch one does seem to be more of a verticutter as you say, hard to find good pictures of the drum underneath though, but the blades look small. Thanks Ray! 🙏
Sam. The aerator is not power driven. It has no gear. You just run the mower over the lawn and the blades just rotate as they come out of the soil. You do however have to apply additional weight. I put a half bag of sand in the grass catcher otherwise it will just bounce off. The lawn has to be very soft for it to work properly. Allett cartridges are now very expensive. The dethatcher one for my 35cm mower is over £300 pounds. It would be good if a few lawn nuts in the same area could buy lawn tools and share them with each other. Especially a professional aerator and scarifier.
@@Ray_ray11 aaahhh it's one of those, Husqvarna has a similar one, that one you have to pull behind a 4-wheeler or something like that. But same principal, pointy blades to make holes, not scarify. Agree, would be nice if the neighbours also were lawn nuts so we could all share the more expensive equipment. Renting an aerator is also expensive, at least in Sweden, I always struggle how to do it. 300 sounds like alot, at least for something you will use once a year max.
I agree with you 100%, I have owned several of these Sun Joes both electric and the new battery operated one which I love. I use to use the times that is basically a rake to get up material but if you want to really get up thatch and material along with creating cuts in the grass so that fertilizer water seeds etc can get down approximately then use the scarifier. This also not a aerator. If anyone is looking for an Manual aerator then check out the RU-vid video type is Rollaerator I bought this product off eBay and it works great. I use both sun joe scarifier and this Rollaerator
Hey Lance, thanks for watching, yeah I wouldn't use the scarifier just for aeration either, I mean the "damage" it does when you use it, just for aerating? Doesn't make sense, agree with you. Actually saw a video on that Rollaerator, looks cool!
@@SamsLawn if I did not have the my manual aerator I could get away with just using my sun Joe scarifier. I only use my sun Joe scarifier and I never use the rake. I want that aggressiveness in the spring and fall to help my grass breathe by snatching up all that thatch. By using both rake and scarifier over the years I just find the scarifier more beneficial in the spring and especially the fall for fertilizer in and over seeding and now since this is the second year on lawn renovation with my new turf tall fescue I have much less need to scarify in the spring because I prepare grass in the fall.
@@lance8280 One question though Lance, do you actually check for thatch before you do it or do you use it no matter what? Curious how the grass copes with scarifying both spring and fall?
@@SamsLawn I don’t check for thatch at all because I always want to thin my lawn in the fall prior to overseeding or fertilizing no matter the grass type. In the spring I typically have lush grass because of my treatment plan in the fall. Aerating and scarifying is just automatically part of my fall plan no matter what. Gives me the best results to get through Ohio summertime heat and now that I switched from Kentucky Bluegrass to Turf Talk Fescue I am expecting even greater things this summer as it will be my first summer with Turf Tall Fescue
Good videos. But I think it depends on lawn type, St augustine/buffalo if you go deep it kills stolons and lawn is dead. But if you have 20mm of stolons over grown you use scarify just to take off 10mm and leave the lowest stolons. I'll send you a video I saw that made sense to me. Cool grass you can go and cut the soil and its not going to kill the grass.
@@SamsLawn ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Mo0QrCJnhQA.html Check this video, its the only one that actually scarifys the lawn and does follow up. You may need subtitles to understand the australian hahah
Jag ska kommentera på engelska så att det går ihop med kanalen 😀 So on this note I agree with you fully, having used my machine, the one with the spring is like power raking the lawn and is perfect to remove stuff in my lawn, specially lots of acorn från neighboring trees. But usually the Gardena "uppsamlaren" does a great job of that as well. So from next season I will be using the power rake to "comb" the yard to make it look clean, but if I want to detach I will use the solid attachment.👻
Haha skriv på vilket språk du vill, så länge det är svenska eller engelska 😁😜 Exactly, this is pretty much the same as the Gardena but more powerful, it scrapes of any dead grass or junk from the soil surface and let's air and nutrients get through more easily 👌🏼😊
Hey Gerry, for sure the power rake, I would never scarify early spring, the grass needs to be at it's peak growing period if you are going to scarify, so it comes back faster and isn't pushed out by any weeds. If you use the power rake, make sure you have the setting pretty high so you don't disturb the soil too much. At least if we are talking early spring, later during spring when the lawn is growing and is fully back to life, then you can lower the setting, or even scarify. But I would recommend to do it during fall/autumn just for the fact that the weed pressure is lower then. Good luck mate.
Hi, well it depends. If you have "strong" Creeping red fescue, which is a variant that will spread with rhizomes AND stolons, then yes, if you verticut and split the stolons, then it will spread even more. However, if you have "normal" creeping red fescue then it will spread through rhizomes so to be able to cut them and promote spread, then you would need to scarify below the surface. So it depends what type of Creeping red fescue you have.
@@SamsLawn makes perfect sense thank you. It will be strong creeping fescue. Idea is as I have kids and a dog I need it to be hard wearing and in a form of repairing too. Can’t wait to for spring, shame I didn’t think of it a few months ago so could have done it in autumn instead 🤦🏻♂️ but excited to see if the idea works to have a nice lush lawn
@@movingforward1981 I think it sounds awesome, it's also alot softer grass, so it will work perfect for you. Me too dude, I want spring to be here already! 😁
For me the machine have the right Name! Dethatcher! With power rake you reduce future thatch by removing dead grass and debris. With scarifying attachment it will remove exisiting Thatch. Both together makes it Dethacher! Its like 1 (rake) is the vaccine and second one (scarifyer) is antibiotics 😂😂. Hope that makes sense.
For sure mate, you do remove future thatch with it but the name DE-thatcher give you the impression that it will remove the thatch itself, DE-thatching, so that's why I just want to point out that it doesn't really, but it does remove debris and stuff that will become part of the thatch layer in the future, for sure :D
Einhell makes it even more confusing calling there products with both attachements "Scarifier/Aerator" where the Aerator is what you call a "Power Rake", doesn't matter though as long as you know the purpose for each, what's in a name 😉
Hey mate, thanks for dropping by, I know it gets confusing, especially if you are not a nerd like I am, then you usually trust that the manual from the manufacturer is correct. I really can't see how anyone is supposed to aerate with the "power rake". Hope at least these videos are helpful and people can forget what they are called as you say and just focus on what they do :)
@@SamsLawn it took me a while to work it out and just look at the product rather than the name, especially when trying to price match 🤷🏼♂️ Keep up the content, Great job! 😃
