Cool season grass in Chicago. I’ve thought about overseeding and want to aerate my lawn but am nervous about these squirrels, I have in the tree on the street. They keep digging up my front lawn hence the need to reseed and probably level. Any suggestions to tackle the squirrels so they don’t eat my seed?
I’m planning to mow low, dethatch, aerate and then overseed. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks!
by ThatTacoPapi15
7 Comments
Hey! Are you looking for information about how to overseed a cool season lawn? You can find a comprehensive guide [in this post here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/lawncare/s/pUsKCxyvwQ)
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Dethatching is a recent trend in lawn care that’s become more common thanks to youtube creators and other non-academic sources. As such, there’s a widespread misunderstanding/misinformation about the topic. /u/nilesandstuff has created this automatic comment in the hopes of correcting some of those falsehoods.
Thatch is the layer of stems and roots, both living and dead, that makes up the top layer of soil. Grass clippings are not thatch and do not contribute to thatch. The thickness of thatch can only be assessed by digging into the soil.
Some thatch is good. While some academic sources say that under 1 inch of thatch is beneficial, most settle for half an inch. Thatch is beneficial for many reasons (weed prevention, traffic tolerance, insulation against high temps and moisture loss, etc) and should not be removed. Over half an inch of thatch may not warrant removal, but the underlying causes should be addressed. An inch or more of thatch SHOULD be addressed. Dethatching as a regular maintenance task, and not to address an actual thatch problem, is NOT beneficial… Again, some thatch is good.
Thatch problems are not typical. Excessive thatch is a symptom of other issues, such as: over-fertilization, overwatering, regular use of fungicides, excessive use of certain insecticides, high/low pH, and the presence of certain grasses (particularly weedy grasses).
Dethatching with a flexible tine dethatcher (like a sunjoe) causes considerable short-term and long-term injury to lawns, and is known to encourage the spread of some grassy weeds like bentgrass and poa trivialis. In some RARE cases, that level of destruction may be warranted… But it should always be accompanied with seeding.
A far less damaging alternative to dealing with excessive thatch is core aeration. Core aeration doesn’t remove a significant amount of thatch, and therefore doesn’t remove a significant amount of healthy grass. BUT it can greatly speed up the natural decomposition of thatch. Additionally, be sure to check the list of causes
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Pellet gun
Probably not hurting anything, bit try liquid fence
Cayenne pepper and water in a spray bottle. Spray yard
Let them live life, and I’m not trying to be a jerk. I’ve tried everything under the sun to stop squirrels from digging, for years. Turns out …it’s hard to fight nature. The grass will grow over it or fill in. If anything, they’re helping you aerate a bit. But you’ll drive yourself crazy trying to get rid of squirrels
Free aeration