Whether you’re working on lawns for homeowners or commercial clients, sometimes you’ll tackle jobs that require tools other than the ones you use all the time like lawnmowers and string-line trimmers. All lawns benefit from yearly aeration. Some require dethatching. Sometimes you’ll need to remove sod for a variety of reasons.
Powered core aerators, rakes, and other lawn renovation tools make these tasks much simpler. When you’re regularly performing lawn renovation and yearly maintenance services for clients, it pays to have some of this equipment as part of your fleet.
Yearly Aeration
All lawns benefit from yearly aeration. Foot traffic and driving mowers over the lawn compact the soil over time, making it harder for nutrients and water to get down to the grass roots.
Going over the lawn with a core aerator is the best way to reduce soil compaction. For warm-season grasses, aerate in the late spring or early summer. For cool-season grasses, aerate in the fall before they go dormant.
Here at Richardson Saw, we carry walk-behind and stand-on riding aerators from Billy Goat and Ryan Turf. The walk-behind models are great for smaller yards. Stand-on models are a good choice for larger commercial properties. The Ryan Turf stand-on aerator also lets you flip up the operator stand to convert it to a walk-behind and save space on equipment trailers.
As-Needed Dethatching
Thatch is a layer of dead grass that builds up on top of the soil. A little won’t hurt the lawn, but if it gets thicker than about 1/2 inch it’s good to rake the thatch out. Thatch buildup is likely to be a problem in lawns that aren’t aerated every year or that were neglected and overgrown.
Dethatching is a lot of work if you try it manually with a rake, especially if you’re working on a larger property and/or dethatching regularly as you work on different client properties. A mechanized dethatcher or a power rake makes the job much faster and easier.
Not every commercial lawn care provider will need a power rake to speed up and simplify dethatching. However, if your company focuses on lawn care, investing in one might make a lot of sense.
Removing Sod
Sometimes, working in the lawn and yard involves removing sod. Perhaps some of the grass was damaged by winter weather or chemicals like a spilled pesticide or concentrated fertilizer. Perhaps you offer landscaping services and your client wants you to install a new landscape bed, path, or another hardscape element.
When you need to remove sod, a sod cutter is an invaluable tool. It cleanly and easily cuts strips of sod out of the lawn, removing the grass and some of the soil underneath. This leaves a neat, even surface for laying new sod or installing hardscaping. It’s also useful if you want to cut grass away from structures or fences in a wider swatch than you could with an edger.
The Ryan Jr. Sod Cutter that we carry here at Richardson Saw & Lawnmower also has attachments to make it more versatile. The Mole Blade kit lets you use it to bury wire or tubing up to five inches deep while minimizing disturbance to the lawn. The V Trencher attachment makes it easy to cut small to medium-sized trenches in the grass.
You can check out the turf renovation tools we carry by clicking here or visiting us in person at our location in Richardson, Texas. We’ll be happy to answer your questions and help you find the perfect tool for your needs.
