Question
Some lawn books recommend wearing the spiked strap ons when mowing.  Other sources say they are a waste of time.  Do you have any thoughts on this?

I have considered getting one of those step down aerators with the two little hollow tubes, but my thatch is so tough, I am not sure I could make it work?  Are those tools effective?  My main area of thatch is probably 900 -1000 sq feet.

Cornell Cooperative Extension recommends aerating and avoiding commercial dethatchers as being too hard on the grass plants. What is your opinion of the extreme measures such as vertical cutting?

I have a friend with a small tiller with a rake-type attachment called a "dethatcher."  It seems that it would be less agressive than a vertical cutter.  Maybe there is also a tool called a power rake?  What do you think of these "rakers" and when should they be used if I am also going to aerate?

This was my last series of thatch questions.  Did I say in my first message that my thatchy areas look beautiful this year--I think we've had enough rain that the grass is growing in the thatch layer--or roots are getting through enough to keep the grass green.  

Answer
Two types of aeration exists:

- spike aerators (such as the sandals with spikes) which poles hole in the ground. They are a good temporary solution to thatch, but they can actually result in more compaction of the soil. For thatch, they are a reasonable good compromise.

- core aerators (such as the famous "core-dog": U-shaped metal tube with two hollow tines). It is a BIG job to aerate 1000 sq feet with such a tool. I did a similar sized lawn area with one of those and your legs will hurt for a long time. It took me about 10 minutes to go one 30 feet lane and you need to make some 50-60 passes, so a total of some 10 hours would be required to finish. I did it over 3-4 evenings. Trust me .. it is a BIG job.

Core aertors remove cores of soil and deposit same on the lawn. The benefit from removed cores is that soil compaction is aleviated. This is preferred to spike aerating.

If your main concern is thatch, then I think a good compromise would be the spike sandles. I can not really recommend that you use a coring tool to do a full 1000 sq feet.

If you are going to rent a machine anyway, then I strongly recommend core aerators.