Hard to believe we are in the final week of October! There is still enough time to provide some extra TLC to your lawn and one of the most important steps, often overlooked by homeowners, is aeration.  By taking the time to aerate your lawn you are ensuring that air, water and fertilizer will reach the turf’s roots.  This process is completed by punching holes into the soil to minimize compaction. 

Our lawns get a tough amount of love through the year by walking and playing on them and even weekly mows can cause them to become compacted which delays root growth. When time is taken to aerate the lawn, it will help to encourage the growth of your grass, fill in patchy areas, reduce thatch accumulation and aide in the resistance of disease. 

There are 3 easy ways to determine if your lawn will benefit from aeration –

1. There are areas where the water always puddles up
2. There are worn areas where the grass has stopped growing
3. Water runs off parts of your lawn and it becomes impossible to keep it moist

A general rule of thumb for homeowners is to aerate the lawn every year but if you have heavily compacted soil with a high clay content you can benefit from doing it twice a year.  A lawn that has sandy soil will require infrequent aeration due to less compaction so they can sneak away with once every 2-3 years.  The rule “too much of a good thing” applies here so you want to make sure that you are not over aerating your lawn which could, potentially, cause damage to your soil.

The 2 most common types of aerators are:

• SPIKE AERATORS: these use wedge shaped solid spikes to punch holes in the soil.
  • Since there is no soil removed from the ground, watering will cause the compacted soil around the holes to expand and close
  • Best used on: heavy clay soils

• CORE AERATORS: these have hollow tines that pull-out plugs (cores) from the soil.
  • This reduces compaction in the soil, and the holes can stay open for a long-time allowing air, fertilizers, and water to reach the roots.
  • Best used on: sandy or loamy soils

Now that you have completed your aeration there are a few things that should be done –

1. Leave the soil plugs on the lawn to decompose and filter back into the holes.
2. Apply fertilizer immediately after aeration to provide nutrients to the grass roots.
3. Reseed your lawn, especially in the areas where grass is thin.

PRO TIPS:

• Water before aerating.  Aeration is most effective when the soil is slightly moist.
• Do not mow the lawn for at least a week after aerating.
• Prior to aeration, your lawn should be mowed at a height of 1.5-2”
  • Clippings should be bagged, blown or raked off the lawn
    • This will maximize seed to soil contact
• Water once every 2 days for 45-60 minutes/per area
  • Germination should occur in 14-21 days

If you are curious if your lawn could benefit from these services, call now and schedule an estimate with our crew.