Dethatching

[Nousernameforme]

We rent and our grass gets cut reasonably regularly but occasionally it has been allowed to overgrow. I was out there today and I noticed that our lawn looks quite a bit higher and bumpy then the neighbours.
Having had a google this is probably due to it needing dethatching apparently. Which would explain why, when i was doing the edges the other day the lawn is an inch or so higher than the path.

So what is the cheapest but most effective way of doing it. Or is dethatching a thing that's going to knacker the grass and shouldn't ever be done.

It might not be lumpy because of thatch, worm casts are the biggest culprits for lumps. Scarifying (de thatching) is good for lawns as it gets rid of all the old dead growth and now is a good time to do it. It's hard work to do it manually, you need a spring-tined lawn rake for the job, and then keep going over it backwards and forwards - you should get loads out, and the lawn will look awful for a few weeks until new growth fills in. It's easier to get an electric lawn scarifier, they're not that expensive, and use it much like a mower. You'll be surprised at how much moss and dead grass comes out.

Ok I was looking at one of those scarification tool things preferably one on wheels. It wouldn't be worth getting a powered one for our tiny patch.

Regarding the lumps would it be worth getting our hands on a roller? I would just like it to be flat enough so we can put chairs out without them tipping.

I don't think a roller would be a good idea - they are usually used to give a nice stripy finish, not for flattening lumps, and would probably compact the soil.

I scarify ours in the autumn by hand. But now is a good time to do it.

I quite enjoy it. As I prepared, brick edged, raked, deweeded, flattened, reraked, seeded and have looked after it mowing and reseeding it, I quite like seeing how much the moss has penetrated each year and what else has found its way into the grass. I just use a bog standard grass rake and then mow up all the raggedy bits and compost it all.

Thank you for the advice on the roller complete rookie here if you couldn't guess.

Do you think a regular rake would get the job done if its a lot to get up