Thatch and Related Matters

enoughcliches – posted 18 August 2006 01:11

I’m a gardening newbie living in the tropics (Malaysia). I have about 100 sq feet of lawn which I laid down a month ago. I’m not exactly sure what type of grass it is, but the local nurseries call it Manilla or Phillipines grass.Now, in order to match the theme of my flower beds, which I planted ‘wild’ English garden style, I had decided to let the grass grow equally wild (This is before I heard of a thing called thatch, mind you). So my lawn has been developing pretty well, but as a side effect, I realized that the dense leaves have been hiding a 1/2-inch layer of thatch.I find the dishevelled look quite endearing, and as a plus, due to the denseness of the thatch, I have absolutely no weeds and almost never have to water the lawn. However, I realize that most people advocate periodic mowing and dethatching, so I was wondering what problems I am inviting by not maintaining the lawn. Will the layers of thatch pile one on top of the other to no end? Is it bad for lawn health in the long run? Is fertilizer burn more likely when the pellets sit in the thatch instead of on the ground? Any help appreciated. Thanks

[This message has been edited by enoughcliches (edited 18 August 2006).]

Grassguy – posted 22 August 2006 19:43

disease and insects will be a product of an over accumulation of thatch. The 1/2 barrier is about the time it should be removed, although if you can maintain the thatch at this level it will increase moisture retention and provide increased wear tolerance for your turf. I have never heard of your particular turf so there may be a possibility that its fairly disease resistant. To much nitrogen will cause thatch and vigirous growth habits of certain grasses lead to thatch as well as the over use of insecticide. If you can top dress somehow this will control thatch as well as core plugging and of course mechanical removal of the thatch.

TexanOne – posted 23 August 2006 00:54

If it is Manila grass, it’s probably Zoysia matrella:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/PLANTanswers/turf/publications/zoysia.html

http://www.hear.org/Pier/imagepages/singles/zomat10.htm

I don’t know that I have ever seen a Zoysia matrella lawn and wouldn’t know how to care for it. I also couldn’t find much information about it on the web.

Grassguy – posted 23 August 2006 21:30

Yep its a species of Zoysia, (matrella).letting it get over 1 inch tall will produce alot of thatch.

enoughcliches – posted 13 December 2006 20:34

Thanks for all the info! Sorry for the really late reply, but I have been away for some time and left the lawn care to my brother. My lawn is indeed Zoysia Matrella. As advised, we trimmed frequently, laid back on high-nitrogen fertilizers and top-dressed whenever thatch accumulated.Till recently, it was doing great but over the past few weeks, the lawn has been developing some problems. First there appeared patches of unusually short, blue-tinted grass blades. Then I noticed that certain patches were starting to bald and some others were turning brown with a stain-like characteristic on the blades.Are these symptoms of nutrient deficiencies or disease? Also, could the recent monsoon season (heavy downpour every day for weeks) be a contributing factor?

TexanOne – posted 29 December 2006 02:07

The problems you describe sound very much like a fungal issue – especially with heavy rainfall. Do you have photos?

enoughcliches – posted 01 January 2007 21:44

As an indication of the amount of rainfall, my hometown in a neighbouring state was just hit by a 4 ft flood and now looks like a fishing village

I don’t have a decent camera handy at the moment, but I’ll try to post some photos as soon as possible (of the lawn, not the flood!). In the meatime, are there some generic measures I can take to control fungal infections? (I garden organically, so I would appreciate some natural alternatives)

[This message has been edited by enoughcliches (edited 01 January 2007).]

[This message has been edited by enoughcliches (edited 01 January 2007).]