When to Rake the Lawn

Typically, most people think that the only time that they need to rake their lawn is when the leaves begin to fall and cover it. However, there are several times throughout the year when we need to rake our lawns. These can range from when there is a huge storm, to seeing thatched or clumped grass, and the ever popular fall season. As you can see when to rake the lawn isn't that difficult of a question to answer. The real trick is how do to it. These guidelines will help you determine not only when to rake the lawn, but also

• Choose the time. Choosing the right time to rake the lawn can often be a little confusing. In all honesty there are usually two times when it is the best, and those are either the early morning or the evening. The reason for this is that you will be able to work without having to deal with the heat of the day. Now, if you have to choose only one time, the best time to do the work is in the morning. That way you can get a majority of the work done, without loosing the light or even having to deal with excessive heat.
• Get the proper tools. There are two types of rakes that you can choose to use, and they depend on the job that you are doing. If you need to rake leaves, then you need to use a wide lipped leaf rake; for dethatching or other types of gardening work you can use a regular garden rake. The big difference between these two types of garden tools is that a leaf rake has more tines which are flexible and won't tear up the ground, while a garden rake has a smaller number of tines which are designed to dig more into the soil.
• Get some help. If you are going to be raking leaves, and have a large yard, then you need to make sure that you have some help. If you don't you can be guaranteed to be working on your yard a lot longer than you would like.
• Start at one corner. Start working in one corner of your yard, and work methodically across it. As you go, make piles of leaves. This will help reduce the overall amount of work that you need to do, while helping you to also make piles which are more manageable than a single large one would be.
• Bag it, or mulch it. After you have finished raking your yard, you have one of two options. You can either bag the leaves or other material, or you can mulch them. Ideally, if you are raking up things like thatched grass, you will want to bag it up and dispose of it properly. However, if you are raking leaves, and interested in creating your own compost, then you really should save it for material.