Tools to Reseed a Lawn

Thatching Rakes

• Thatching rakes have thin vertical blades or tines that slice through lawn-choking thatch. Hand-held thatching rakes end in a row of miniature half-moon blades and are ideal for small lawns. Power rakes, also known as vertical mowers or dethatchers, are a motorized version of a thatching rake and make quick work of larger backyards. Similar in appearance to a lawnmower, a power rake's blades or tines spin vertically rather than horizontally. Use these rakes multiple times over the same area, making passes in alternate directions, until the thatch is completely shredded.

Aerators

• Energetic football games or gentle bare toes all contribute to soil compaction. Years of foot traffic compresses the dirt. If the soil is severely compressed, water, air and nutrients can't sink into the lawn's root zone. The roots themselves have trouble growing into the hard earth, and a shallow root system can't support a lush lawn. Aerators solve this problem immediately, mechanically breaking up the hard, compacted soil. Core aerators remove thin, 2- to 3-inch-long plugs from the soil and deposit the core on the lawn. Spike aerators aren't as efficient as core aerators. Instead of removing a plug of soil, the spikes simply poke holes into the earth.

Seed Spreaders

• Seed spreaders vary widely, from simple hand-held rotary spreaders to motorized silt-seeders. Rotary spreaders have a bin for grass seed, an opening in the bin with variable settings and a hand-cranked rotor to broadcast the seed. Drop spreaders are similar to rotary spreaders, but the large bin is mounted on wheels and broadcasts seed as you push it over the lawn. You may also broadcast granular fertilizer using either of these two spreaders once your lawn is established. A silt-seeder is an all-in-one tool, including a vertical rake, drop spreader and roller on a motorized chassis. Reseeding a lawn with a silt-seeder is a bit more difficult than using separate tools, but with a little practice you can dethatch your lawn, spread seed and press the seed into the soil in a single pass.

Other Tools

• Many of the common tools in your shed help you properly reseed your lawn. For example, a standard lawn mower prepares your lawn before you dethatch. Set the mower to the lowest level and cut the old lawn as close as possible, leaving the scalped grass ready for the thatching rake. A basic yard rake smooths the lawn's surface and gathers up rocks, uprooted thatch and other debris. And, while a roller isn't in every tool shed, a roller presses grass seed into the soil.