If you have ever detached your lawn, then you’re aware of how much grass and thatch you end up pulling out of your lawn. Usually, you’ll have a great big pile of thatch that can be difficult to dispose of. Now, this shouldn’t deter you from dethatching because there are a few disposal options available that you might not be aware of. So, let’s look at a few ideas of what to do with thatch after dethatching.
What Can You Do with Lawn Thatch After Dethatching? (The Short Answer)
Dethatching a lawn usually results in a big pile of thatch. You can discard this thatch waste by composting or taking it to a green waste processing facility. Here are four examples of what to do with lawn thatch after dethatching.
- Home Compost
- Green Waste Collection
- Green Waste Drop-Off Location
- Contact a Local Landscaper
Why Thatch Can’t Just Be Left on the Lawn
The whole point of dethatching is to remove the top organic layer from your lawn’s soil bed to improve issues such as air exchange, nutrient intake, and water absorption. If you don’t collect the thatch once you have finished dethatching, this material will very quickly work its way back to the top of the soil.
The excessive amount of composting material is too much for your soil bed to take on at one time, so your lawn roots will still face the same issues you were trying to avoid by dethatching. In addition, with the thatch material now sitting on top of your lawn, you’ll also start to have issues with things such as a lack of sunlight reaching the grass blades and a disruption of the photosynthesis process.
So, the best thing you can do is remove the thatch from your lawn as quickly as possible. Even letting the thatch sit on top of your lawn for a few days will cause some issues.
How to Pick Up Thatch After Dethatching
The easiest way I have found to pick up thatch after dethatching is to use a rake and a few large paper yard compostable waste bags. After I’ve collected most of the thatch, I run my mower over the lawn with the bagging system attached and use the mower’s power to suck up any remaining thatch. Finally, I put anything my lawn mower collected into the compostable paper waste bags.
4 Ways to Dispose of/Use Lawn Thatch After Dethatching
Now that you have all of your thatch collected into one area or bag, it’s time to dispose of the waste. So, let’s take a look at four possible options of what to do with thatch after dethatching.
Home Compost
The first option would be to add the thatch to your home compost heap and turn it into compost for use in your garden. The only thing you need to be careful of is adding chemicals to your compost. So this is only a good idea if you haven’t added chemicals to your lawn recently.
If you have, then a percentage of these chemicals will end up being added to the compost heap. Because certain chemicals can mess up the composting process, you’ll want to be careful. Double-check if any of the chemicals that you have used are going to be harmful. If they are, then you’ll want to consider using a different option.
Green Waste Collection
In my area, my local municipality provides a green waste collection service alongside my regular trash. So, in my case, all I need to do is set my thatch alongside my green recycling and allow the city to collect it. The first time I tried this, I gave my local municipality a quick call to see if they had any special requirements regarding thatch. All they told me was that I should either place the thatch in the green trash can or bag it using paper yard waste bags.
So, if your local municipality offers this service and you’ve never used it before, I recommend you call and ask about specific requirements regarding thatch disposal and collection.
Green Waste Drop-Off Location
After some research, I discovered that my municipality took the local yard waste to a recycling center, where it was then turned into compost. It turns out that this same facility is also open to local lawn care/landscaping companies and the general public.
So, instead of waiting for trash day, you can take your yard waste directly to the processing center. All you need to do is give your city a call and ask them where the yard waste recycling center is. Mine is only a few miles away, and it is totally free.
Contact a Local Landscaper
Another option I have come across is to ask a local lawn care or landscaping company if they can take the thatch off your hands. Many lawn care companies in my area use tipper trucks to remove garden waste from the properties they service. They then drive the truck straight to the yard waste recycling center.
Now, because these guys are commercial contractors, they usually have to pay to dump the garden waste. So, I give my local guys either $10 bucks or a 12-pack to thank them for their help.
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