~Five Tips Able Landscapers, LLC 

suggest to achieving a healthy, thick, green, organic lawn.~

~Why dethatch the lawn in the Spring?

Tine Rack Dethatching in the Spring helps remove dead grass, snow mold and other debris which prevents water, air, and nutrients from getting to the soil.  By removing these unhealthy inhibitors, it will prepare the lawn for applying the first application of pre-emergent crab grass control.  The application will now make contact with the soil to create the necessary barrier.  It will also help prevent pests and diseases from developing in the turf, which is a common occurrence in the Spring with wet, cool temperatures. 

~Why raise the lawn mowers cutting hight?

The simplest way to help your organic lawn grow up healthy and dense is to adjust your mower's cutting height to 3 to 3.5 inches.  Why?  Tall blades of grass have more surface area exposed to the sun, enabling them to photosynthesize more sugars and starches for greater root growth.  If the root mass is greater and deeper, the plant will have better access to water and nutrients, and will be more tolerant of drought and can recover more rapidly from dormancy.

You should remove only one-third of the blade of grass at the time of cutting.  No matter how tall the turf, refrain from cutting off more than one-third of each grass blade in any single mowing, or you risk stressing the plant.  Cutting off just one-third will produce small clippings, which you should leave on your lawn right where they fall.

Keeping the mower blade sharp is extremely important.  A dull lawn-mower blade will tear the grass, and the jagged wounds make the plant susceptible to infection and allow for more rapid evaporation.  I recommend replacing your lawn mower blades each new season.  During the season I would suggest sharpening your mower blade every 2 months or so of cutting.   The majority of hardware stores and power-equipment dealers offer sharpening service and the fee is minimal.

~Why is mulching the clippings more beneficial then bagging?

As grass clippings decompose, they contribute valuable nitrogen to the soil almost 2 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet of soil each season or about half of the lawn's annual fertilizer needs.  They also add organic matter and provide a variety of other benefits to the soil and grass.  Many people believe, however, that clippings left on the lawn contribute to thatch dead or dying grass parts (such as stems, stolons, crowns, and roots) that form a layer on top of the soil and obstruct moisture and oxygen from reaching plant roots.  But just the opposite is true, fresh clippings stimulate earthworm activity, which breaks down thatch.

~Why does cutting height help reduce weeds?

You'll help reduce weeds if you mow your grass often (but not less then 3 inches) with a sharp blade and grow it in soil that's rich in organic matter and biological activity.  Researchers at the University of Maryland confirmed that mowing cool-season turf grasses to 3 inches or higher works as well as or better than herbicides for suppressing crabgrass.  Its my experience, dandelions, common purslane, and other low-growing annual weeds do not survive in a lawn that's cut at 3 to 3.5 inches in height because the height helps to choke out the weeds and deprive them of the nutrients from the sun.

~Why Core-aerate your lawn in the Fall?

Core-aeration helps reduce compaction, improves water infiltration, improves rooting, reduces thatch and acts in many other ways to improve the lawn and to reduce stress.  It is most beneficial to Core-Aerate a lawn in the fall and not the Spring, because at this time of the year cooler temperatures set in, and annual weeds begin to die off.  As apposed to the Spring you would enable annual weeds to germinate, by opening the soil or disturbing the barrier created when applying the first application of crab grass control.