06/10/2026
From Wisconsin — first time dethatching this yard since we bought the house 7 years ago, and now I’m sitting here wondering if I just accidentally cooked my lawn. 😭
I dethatched it Monday because it really needed it, and of course the forecast did not look nearly as hot when I checked it. Then today rolls around and it’s almost 90° outside. Perfect timing, right?
I’ve been watering every evening since I did it, but we’ve only had about .38 inches of rain for the whole month of May, so everything is already stressed. On top of that, I cut it shorter than usual so I could dethatch it better. I normally mow at 2.5 inches, but this time I dropped it down to 2 inches.
Now I’m looking at it like… did I just make a bad situation worse?
I know I probably should have done it earlier in the season, but life got busy and I just didn’t have the time. Trying to take care of the yard when the weather won’t cooperate is a whole different kind of stress.
Be honest, lawn people… am I screwed, or can this bounce back with enough watering and patience?