Do I need to dethatch my lawn?

[ashleasmith]

Hi all,

I have Kikuyu lawn out the front of my house, and 95% of it is in beautiful condition (even with a novice like me looking after it!).

I do have a slope down at one corner of the lawn, and in this corner I am finding that the grass is so thick and spongy. I’ve attached some photos after edging and mowing it 

today, and you can see it’s just so thick and looks very unsightly from the front and side - it also sits well above the timber garden edge.

I’m not sure why this particular patch is like this - could it be the additional water run-off it would be getting from the rest of the garden? This is the lowest point.

I’m located in Melbourne, and haven’t needed to water excessively lately due to the wetter weather.

Do I need to dethatch this one area to bring it back in line with the rest of the lawn? 
If yes, any tips on how to do this on a budget would be so appreciated!

Ash

[Jewelleryrescue]

Hi @ashleasmith 

Kikuyu lawn isnt normally one that needs de thatching .  Your lawn looks very  nice   good  job  established so roots are down nice and deep.

I would  suggest you mow it more often during the rain  growing season.  I know you turn your back and its grown 100mm overnight. 

So I would start dropping lawn mower blade gradually down to thin those patches. It may yellow  at first but it will bounce back. Keep going down with the lawn mower settings each time you mow. 

You can drop the mower height too fast you  will have super amounts of clippings.

Once your happy  with lawn thinkness  revisit your need to de thatch  Also you can  uses  a garden fork to small area dethatch as a test.

[ashleasmith]

Thanks so much for your reply, I really appreciate it!

It’s only this particular section that is thick like this, the rest of the lawn is a really nice depth and doesn’t feel spongy.

In order to lower my lower height, would you say to mow the lawn every 2nd day until I reach the height I’m happy with or is this too often?

[MitchellMc]

That's too often @ashleasmith.

Just with your regular mowing routine, say once every two to three weeks, for that section, lower the height one notch each time you mow. Over a few months, you gradually reduce the height of that area.

Mitchell