Do I Need To Dethatch?
![Lawn 20171 | Walter Reeves: The Georgia Gardener](https://t9e4s3i5.rocketcdn.me/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Lawn-20171-600x800.jpg)
Q: I am unsure whether I need to dethatch my lawn or not. It is mainly bermuda grass. I am asking because a neighbor dethatched his lawn.
A: It doesn’t look to me like it needs dethatching.
Thatch is a layer of decomposing and undecomposed grass clippings beneath the green blades of grass in a lawn. Thatch interferes with watering and with fertilizing the lawn. It can harbor insects.
I don’t see much thatch in your photographs. A lawn needs to be dethatched only when the layer is at least a half inch thick.
Dethatching could benefit a lawn when thatch is present but if it’s not present it simply tears up the grass for no good reason.