Patches of grass that are very hard to mow through!

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uglymotherpluck st Thomas, Virgin Islands (USA) Jan 26, 2015

I live in the Caribbean and our lawn- of mostly weeds- has patches of grass that I have a very hard time pushing our reel mower through. How can I make it better- aeration?

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Diana_K Contra Costa County, CA(Zone 9b) Jan 26, 2015

If it is a certain species in those patches, and not elsewhere you could dig out those patches.

Grass plants have living leaves and stems, and dying leaves that sort of droop down then mat together at the soil level. This is called thatch. The dead material decomposes over time, but some species of grass build up thatch faster than it can decompose. If you can rake through this thatch, break it up, then the living grass can recover, and will be easier to mow.
Google some images using 'Thatch in lawns' in the search, and look at some cut-away pictures with a cross section of soil, thatch and lawn.

There are machines that can dethatch a lawn. I have no idea if they are available in your area. Rental yards around here all have them. You can buy a special rake that cuts through the thatch, too.
Do not get taken in by this: a blade, attaches to a lawn mower, and has just 2 prongs the dig down into the thatch, supposed to remove it. Does not work. Also the strain on a lawn mower might be too much (especially the ones with the smallest motors).

Aerating is taking out those little plugs. Does not do much if thatch is the problem, though it is a step in the right direction.
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Here is how I did lawn renovation, when I was still in that end of the business:
1) Weed control. Read the label if you will spray, you want to be able to reseed promptly. Hand weeding is fine, but dig out the roots.
2) Fairly dry lawn.
3) Mow pretty close.
4) Run dethatcher and aerator over the lawn. The dethatcher could be run in both directions: once with North-South passes, once with East-West passes.
5) Rake and remove the debris
6) Fertilize, seed
7) Top dress with fine compost, just enough to hide the seed from the birds, and keep it moist.

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