The Best Lawn Dethatchers You Can Buy

Warm weather brings out the green thumbs, and while nurturing a houseplant jungle and starting a garden are worthy endeavors, a lush lawn is what dreams are made of. One problem: lawn care isn’t easy and is riddled with jargon and tools like the dethatcher, which happens to be one of the most effective grass management tools in the game. Here’s what you need to know about lawn dethatchers, along with the best examples the market has to offer.

Is Thatch Actually Bad?

Thatch is a spongy layer of dead organic matter and living roots that builds up below the actively growing layer of grass and your topsoil. While a small thatch layer under an inch is healthy for your lawn, too large of a layer of thatch will act like a sponge, preventing water and nutrients from getting to the deepest roots in your lawn. As the University of Massachusetts Lawn Extension Program explains, a thick thatch layer will inhibit grass growth and acts better as a growing medium for fungus, moss and disease.

How to Check Your Thatch Layer

Take a core sample of your lawn with a trowel or your coolest hori hori knife and inspect the layer below where the green blades of grass start. Thatch isn’t the layer of dead grass that lives amongst your lawn, it’s the spongy material that hides below it. If your core sample doesn’t have a spongy layer, it’s a sign your lawn has a healthy mix of microorganisms and earthworms that are actively breaking down the dead organic material. If you do see a large spongy layer, well, then this guide is for you.

How do You Dethatch a Lawn?

To properly remove the layer of spongy thatch material living below your grass, you need what’s called a scarifier. Most electric detractors sold will come with two attachments: one that’s full of blades around two inches long and one that’s full of metallic brushes. While metallic brushes will remove dead grass and debris from the top of your lawn, the deep-cutting scarifier blades are needed to remove the thatch that lives below. Before dethatching, check your grass height. If it’s more than a couple of inches tall, consider a quick and shallow mow before dethatching. If you need expert help, This Old House‘s legendary gardener Roger Cook can teach you the DIY approach to dethatching in under five minutes.

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Best Overall Lawn Dethatcher

Sun Joe AJ801E Lawn Dethatcher

• $154.00 at Amazon
  $169.00 (9% off)

Sun Joe is the first of two brands that dominate the home dethatcher world (find the second immediately following this one), and the AJ801E model provides a good standard bearer for the category at large. Its 13-inch mouth is suited to small- to medium-sized yards, as pushing a dethatcher is a slower process than pushing a lawnmower, and you’ll need a pretty long extension cord, as it runs off outlet power, not gas or a rechargeable battery. A note on that: when pushing an electric dethatcher, you’ll know you’re going too fast if the motor begins to strain, slow or warble at all. One of the most appealing additions to Sun Joe’s entry-level dethatcher is the debris collection bag, which most dethatchers opt out of. Not having to rake and collect all that extra thatch is a huge time saver.

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Best Lawn Dethatcher for Newbies

Greenworks 10 Amp 14-Inch Corded Dethatcher

• $142.00 at Amazon
  $200.00 (29% off)

Greenworks’ is likely the most popular consumer friendly dethatcher. It’s a hair more affordable than its competition and features many of the same features. When lined up next to the Sun Joe, the differences are minute. The most noticeable is the size; the Greenworks dethatcher is more compact, despite featuring an extra inch of spinning tines. Its 10-amp corded electric motor is slightly weaker than the Sun Joe’s 12-amp motor, but the difference is negligible in most circumstances.

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Best Compact Lawn Dethatcher

Worx WG850 14-Inch Corded Electric Dethatcher

• $169.00 at Amazon

Worx’s 14-inch, 12-amp corded dethatcher has two stand-out features. The first is a folding handlebar that folds all the way up. Other dethatchers offer folding handlebars for easier storage, but they don’t go full send with it. The Worx dethatcher folds up small enough to toss in the trunk of your sedan to wheel over to your moocher friend’s lawn. The second is its weight; a whopping 32 pounds. That extra heft (5 to 7 more pounds than most other push dethatchers) means less vibration when it’s running, which is nice if you’ve got a lawn on the larger side of medium.

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Best Lawn Dethatcher for Big Yards

Agri-Fab 40-Inch Tine Tow Dethatcher

• $130.00 at Amazon
  $140.00 (7% off)

Got a big yard? Lucky enough to have a riding mower or ATV? This is what you want. It covers nearly three-times the yard a push dethatcher does, and, because there isn’t an electric motor or many moving parts, its useful lifespan is significantly longer. The only thing you need to make this work: a few very heavy bricks or cinderblocks. The weight on the trailer is what keeps the tines digging into the thatch below.

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Best Cordless Lawn Dethatcher

Einhell GC-SC Power-X-Change 12-Inch Dethatcher

• $118.00 at Amazon

One word: cordless. Einhell’s dethatcher runs off a pair of rechargeable batteries. The pros are obvious: no need for a 50-foot extension cord and no charge of chewing up said extension cord. You will need to ensure it’s charged, else you’ll end up with a half-dethatched yard, which isn’t ideal.

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Best Dethatching Rake

True Temper 15-Inch Adjustable Thatch Rake

• $63.00 at Amazon
  $72.00 (12% off)

If you’re looking to simplify beyond even battery-powered or vehicle-dragged dethatchers, then a dethatching rake is for you. There’s no gas to buy or batteries to recharge, you simply grab your rake and get to work. It’s equipped with curved steel tines that shred your thatch and cultivate your lawn, and its hardwood handle is extra sturdy. Plus, a cushioned grip helps keep blisters at bay while you toil away.

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