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Can raked lawn thatch be used as mulch?
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Posted by
gardenerzone4 (
My Page) on
Sat, Sep 3, 11 at 10:51
| We're power raking the lawn this weekend to prepare it for overseeding. Can the thatch that we rake up be used as mulch? Does it tend to harbor weed seeds or other things that I don't want to introduce onto my perennial beds? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Can raked lawn thatch be used as mulch?
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| Yes, you can use it as mulch, and yes, it will probably have weed seeds. It would probably be better in the compost bin in the long run. |
RE: Can raked lawn thatch be used as mulch?
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| If it's wet, it's going to stink if it's dumped in clumps or a thick layer. If you can dry it and fluff it a bit (driveways are good for this in summer), it makes a fine top mulch. Sue |
RE: Can raked lawn thatch be used as mulch?
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| Where it was it was a mulch so after ripping it from the lawn it can be used elsewhere as a mulch. Where people have done that I have not noticed any unpleasant odor, nothing like you get when fresh grass clippings are used. If any "weed" seeds do germinate then that should tell you there was not reason to dethatch because the thatch layer was not thich enough to be a problem. Thatch, up to 1/2 inch thick, is more beneficial to your turf then it is detrimental. |
RE: Can raked lawn thatch be used as mulch?
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| If it contains any running grasses such as couch I'd compost it first. otherwise the small pieces of stem could root. Same goes for moss if has any in it. |
RE: Can raked lawn thatch be used as mulch?
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| If it has Bermuda grass rhizomes, the composting process won't even kill that. I hate Bermuda grass. I don't think it would be a stinky mess either, unless you put it on very thick. The weed seed content would depend on how weedy your lawn was... |
RE: Can raked lawn thatch be used as mulch?
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| Highly unlikely that someone in US Plant Hardiness Zone 4 would have Bermuda grass to be concerned about. Couch, or Quack, grass could be but any rhizomes from that grass would be fairly visible. On the rare occassions I have dethatched a lawn with enough thatch to be a problem I've not seen any evidence that the Quack grass did root in the thatch. |
RE: Can raked lawn thatch be used as mulch?
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| In that case I'm moving my lawn to Zone 4 to kill that darn stuff! LOL |
RE: Can raked lawn thatch be used as mulch?
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| Great suggestions! Thank you all. We got a TON of thatch that I've piled about a foot high on new beds that I'm creating via the lasagna method. So far, no stench, since it's mostly browns. Nothing like the fermented green grass clippings. BTW, when I still lived down in Texas, I did have Bermuda grass and it was unbelievably invasive and difficult to deal with. |
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