Satisfied Customer of Romero De-thatch/Areation

[jamjets]

We responded to a flyer left at our house offering yard de-thatch and aeration services and wanted to offer our opinion of the results. I am generally not thrilled with unsolicited flyers, but this one appeared when we were considering doing this work ourselves. The short version is we were pleased with the vendor and thought it was a good value.

I’m sure some of the local lawn service folks will do this service. We prefer planting beds over turf but we do have about a 1000 sq ft of turf that we maintain. In the six years we have been in the home we have aerated 3 times, once “by foot” (two plugs at a time!) and twice with rental machines. The equipment is very heavy and must be carried over 4 large rockery steps up to the turf area. In short it is a complete pain to do, and a back breaking manuver to get the equipment in place.

The flyer was left Friday, noting that interested parties should select the service requested and place the flyer visibly out front for services (“We will be in your neighborhood tommorrow”). Saturday came and went (rainy) and no joy. I called Sunday and they said they would do it Wednesday at noon.

The family of four arrived at about 12:30 and got to work right away.They worked >very< hard. De-thatch, rake, and low mow. Repeat at 90 degree angle to first pass, I liked that. Standard aeration. I had seed and a little fertilizer for topping, and I top dressed with compost after they left.

The price was $90 total. I think it was a good value as I didn’t want to hassle with the equipment rental (about the same price as renting two machines), and my neighbors were not interested in doing their yards right now.

Awareness items: Mild scheduling issues as noted. There was some language difficulty both on-site and on the phone, but it was managable. They bag, you dispose of thatch/trimmings. They were going to bag in plastic, I had paper for them instead to use.

Overall impression: A hard working family that I was happy to support. They aren’t local (Longview), but next year if they are in the neighborhood I will probably use them again.

If you’ve read this far I’ll assume you know that this procedure is not for the faint of heart. It’s ugly for now, but the payoff is healthy turf that uses less water, less chemicals.

Just my $.02 worth,

Jamjets

Romero Landscaping

360-562-1958

Share This

[jamjets]

Rats! Obvious typo error in title. I hate it when that happens….

Share This

[JoB]

i wouldn’t have noticed it had you not pointed it out…

but i am sure someone would have:)

Share This

[josie2006]

Haven’t heard of this…why does the lawn need less water afterwards? Just curious. My lawn is the bane of my existence due to weeds but I try to keep it healthy and chemical free.

Share This

[jamjets]

As I eluded, I am not a big fan of huge lawns because of water use, etc. I do enjoy having a little though. I tend to cut mine high/cut less frequently because I feel it reduces evaporation and water need. I bag +/- compost clippings because I think the “mulching” mower settings can contribute to thatch accumulation.

From allaboutlawns.com: “Right underneath your grass but right above the line of the soil, there is a layer of leaves, stems, and roots, some living, and some dead. This tightly woven patchwork is known as thatch, and it is a natural part of your lawn. But when thatch becomes too thick, it can prevent the new, growing grass from finding the water and nutrients it needs.”

There is a lot of info on that site. I suspect my lawn has not been de-thatched for at least ten years. Aeration pulls plugs out (like dog poo) which are left in place to “dissolve”. Both actions allow water to get into the soil more efficiently, allowing you to use less. After the treatment I top dress with a little compost to get fresh nutrients down into the newly opened soil. Thatch treatment I guess every 3-4 years, I try to aerate every year.

For us, having the turf healthy seems to be the best defense for weeds. We have pulled our share, but after we got in front of it keeping the grass cut high seems to help too.

The yard is essentially scalped and pretty torn up when you do this (hence my “not for the faint of heart” mention). It does need light daily watering for a bit following the treatment but in the end I think the net is less water use overall. (I also over-seed at the same time so I want the get that seed germinated.)

I dunno, your mileage may vary; it works for us though…

Ben

Share This

[Author]

Posts