I’m calling the new category “Bad Idea”. It could probably also go by “Don’t try this at home” but the latter was just too much of a mouthful.

So to kick of posts to this new category, I figured I’d tell a tale of back-breaking crazy work.

I’d heard from various sources that de-thatching a lawn was a big task. I think I underestimated just how big by a bit. And by bit, I mean a lot. And by lot, I mean a huge amount of underestimating took place.

Around 2:30 I picked up my de-thatcher, a.k.a. lawn comb from Deans Rent-All in Brownsburg. I got home around 3:00, and was working by 3:30. I started with the side yard, the one I had started with raking the other day. That was a seriously “Bad Idea” as well, as I now have two good-sized scabs on my hands where blisters broke. The dethatcher managed to pull another garbage bag full of thatch out of the side yard. It’s pretty incredible to watch how this machine works, especially when I know how long it took me to do about 20 square feet with nothing but rakes. Renting this lawn comb has paid for itself, multiple times over at this point. The machine is easy to operate, it’s the mess it leaves behind that takes the work.

It pretty much just pulls all the thatch to the top, which leaves you with the need to rake, blow, or mow it up. I’ve tried all three. Raking is the most effective for the first time you run the de-thatcher over the lawn, blowing isn’t so great, it just slows down the raking process. As for mowing, it works… when there aren’t mounds of thatch being pulled out. So my method so far has been to run the de-thatcher over the lawn once, rake that into piles, bag those up, run the de-thatcher over the lawn again in a different (preferably perpendicular) pattern, and then mow over that with the bagging lawnmower. I end up emptying the 2 bushel bag about every four lines across the lawn. It takes a lot of time, and the raking will hurt you, as will pushing the de-thatcher up hills or over uneven terrain.

Of course, no job can be done by a Varner family member only part way. While I was out combing the lawn and what not, I got sick of not being able to mow along the front sidewalk without scalping the lawn. Since it’s been raining the last day shoveling the dirt was very easy. I managed to re-grade the front lawn a bit to the sidewalk and shouldn’t have any more problems mowing.

So far I’ve spent about four hours on the yard. I’ve got the whole thing done once, and only the back yard remains to be de-thatched a second time. I’m so sore it’s not funny. Moving anything aches. I feel the burn.

If I had to do this again, and had a bigger yard, and had the money to do it, I’d hire something like this out. Because while it may sound like a good idea… OUCH it hurts. Yet, I’m glad I didn’t. Because now I can say I did it, and the satisfaction that will come in three weeks when my lawn is green and fresh will be enormous.

Tomorrow I’ll finish up the back yard, throw down the starter fertilizer, and over-seed. So I’ll probably be just as sore (if not more so) tomorrow evening. Yay!

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 31st, 2007 at 8:27 pm and is filed under Bad Idea, Core Dump. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.