Spring raking. Spring raking is the best way to give your lawn the start it needs for a good year. Don't start if the soil is still very wet or if the ground is frozen. When it's time, raking should be light enough to avoid damaging the tender crowns of the grass plants, yet vigorous enough to fluff up any areas that were matted down by the winter snow. Don't dig into brown areas assuming that they are dead; more likely, they are still dormant, and hard raking can pull the brown grass clumps right out of the soil.

Summer raking. Under normal conditions, you should not have to rake during the summer. Rake only to remove grass clumps left behind by mowing. All debris should already have been picked up by spring raking.

Fall raking. This is best done after the trees have dropped their leaves. In some cases, your lawn (or part of it) may need to be raked twice to avoid being suffocated by a heavy leaf drop, or if your landscape planting creates a large accumulation of leaves blown there by normal winds. Fall raking can normally be fairly vigorous since the lawn should be healthy at this time of year.

Mulching. Mulching leaves into the lawn is a bad idea. Leaves are naturally very acidic, and these acids leeching into the soil can cause problems with normal lawn growth and health. Mulched leaves can also suffocate some types of lawns. Mulching also creates a barrier which inhibits grasses from spreading into thin areas.