Weeds like clover, thistle, plantain, and dandelions might start inside the thatch and then infiltrate your lawn. Weeds make your grass slippery, attract insects, and steal space as well as nutrients from the grass.
Grass-eating insects like sod web worms and billbugs can kill off patches of grass and leave barren areas behind them. The overgrown thatch provides these harmful insects with a protected and safe place.
Lawn diseases like red thread, necrotic ring spot, brown patch, and snow mold can kill grass as well and cause turf to thin. These problems can be traced back to where the thatch has become too thick.
How does thatch get overgrown in your lawn in the first place? A strong web of lateral shoot growth and roots develops in healthy lawns. This creates thatch, which is an intertwined layer of materials.
Thatch does provide some benefits. However, the problems that excessive thatch creates outweigh all of the benefits.
The best way of reducing a thatch problem is to perform lawn core aeration by removing grass plants, shoots, roots, and plugs of soil. The cores are left on the lawn’s surface, leaving a hole for fertilizer, water and air, and allowing seeds to germinate if needed.
