March is a good time of the year to mechanically plug the blue grass lawn. Lawns that are accumulating a thick thatch layer will benefit immensely from this practice. These mechanical aerators pull plugs of thatch and soil to the surface. I recommend not raking the plugs up. The soil from the plugs will melt back into the growing layer and release micro organisms which help further reduce the thatch layer. Excessive thatch layers retard the flow of oxygen and water into the root system of the lawn. This of course causes stress and a decline in the health and vigor of the grass. Thatch is actually the accumulation of dead roots and not the leaves left from mowing a lawn.
