Last Updated on May 5, 2025 by Brian Beck
I was out giving estimates the other day, and I was on someone’s lawn walking it with them to give them a quote on a special service. While we were walking on the lawn, I could feel how spongy the surface was and looked down to see my feet sinking into the turf as I walked.
This is not a good sign to see on a lawn as it is indicative of an overgrown thatch.
When you can feel the thatch on a lawn it is typically well over an inch in thickness. This is a massive problem as it slowly chokes out the lawn and prevents oxygen from getting to the soil which causes an anaerobic condition which fuels pathogenic microbes that are responsible for disease.
I brought this to the attention of the homeowner and told them that we were working on perfecting our biological program and that I could help him diminish the thatch in the soil and escape the huge expense that he is incurring by not being able to get air water and nutrients into the soil . He looked at me and simply said, “I think my lawn looks good, I’m not too worried about it.” Needless to say, he was not interested in hearing about a solution, so I did not press the issue.
The unfortunate reality for this individual which has a sizeable lawn at about six thousand square feet is that his perception of what our program might cost is far outweighed by the amount of water that he has wasting every year on this dysfunction which is driving a lot of problems. A thick thatch is nothing but a surefire sign of a lack of microbial activity in the soil.
The area of town that he lives in has pretty poor soil to begin with but it is also an affluent area which means that the homes in this area typically are bombarded with chemicals as the homeowners can afford to do so unknowingly affecting soil biology in a very negative way.
Whenever you have a lack of soil biology, typically fungi that is responsible for breaking down organic material, you will see an increased amount of thatch as there is nothing to digest it back into the soil. The that should be in between 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch. Although I did not measure it I could make an educated guess as to where the depth is which would probably put it at 1.5 inches by how it felt underneath my feet. A conservative estimate of wasting 30% of your water bill is a very conservative estimate it’s probably double that in reality, not to mention all of the other associated problems such as lawn disease and toxic substances from synthetic fertilizers existing in a low oxygen environment.
Normally most people would resort to aeration or power raking but these have limited effects as they are just addressing these symptoms and not the root cause which is the soil and the lack of microbial activity in it. I have not run across a soil yet that we have not been able to correct using biology. While the thatch is a symptom the true cause of the dysfunction is microscopic and a soil test would be appropriate to ascertain exactly what is occurring in the soil so you could get yourself out of a world of hurt but that is entirely the prerogative of the homeowner and we can’t force people to do the right thing.
If this describes your lawn I would highly suggest getting a soil report done that has a biological component and seek help you can save yourself thousands of dollars in a very short period of time.