You are probably familiar with the basics of a beautiful lawn: mowing, fertilizing and watering. But sometimes those basics can leave your lawn, well a little basic. To get the lush lawn of your homeowner dreams it is also important to ensure that nutrients can reach the soil beneath your grass. Enter, aeration. Aeration can be an extremely vital element to a healthy lawn because it allows air and water to penetrate built-up grass, otherwise known as lawn thatch. If your reading this we are guessing you may have some questions about this process, that’s why we are here to explain everything you need to know about lawn aeration.
The Dirty Details (and By Dirty We Mean Soil)
Aeration is a process that involves perforating the soil of under your lawn with tiny holes. These holes allow air, water, and nutrients to get down to the grass roots. It helps the roots grow deeply and produce a stronger, more vigorous lawn. Talk about a grass roots movement!
Other reasons why aeration is important is that it helps reduce the thick layer of dead grass that naturally accumulates on your lawn. This is often referred to as thatch. It also relieves soils compaction that often occurs with heavy foot traffic. And, aeration reduces soggy lawns during a downpour because water runoff soaks into the ground at a quicker rate.
Time Talk
The best time to aerate any lawn is during it’s growing season. That way, the grass can heal and fill in any open areas that are created from the process. For cool season grasses, this time is typically in early spring or fall. Warm season grasses tend to prefer a late spring aeration. Aeration, as a rule, should be done every other season.
This is How We Do It
There are two main tools that are used in aerating. A spike aerator (which looks the way it sounds) pokes holes into the ground with a solid tine, or fork. A plug aerator on the other hand actually removes a core (plug) of grass and soil from the lawn. Plugs are preferable because poking at your lawn can actually add more compaction to the soil in the area around the hole.
When we complete this service, we usually find it is also an opportune time to overseed your lawn. The grass seeds will make their way into the aeration holes and germinate, producing a thick healthy lawn. And of course, it is always important to continue those lawn care basics, fertilize, mow, water, repeat.
By now, we are sure you understand that aeration is a beneficial practice on the way to attaining a beautiful lawn. If your lawn is looking a little suffocated, it’s probably time to include this in your lawn care regime. Your lawn will thank you for letting it breathe again.
You can count on our lawn care experts to provide expert advice and reliable services, like aeration. For a “no worries, we got this” all encompassing plan check out our Full Service Program. We give your lawn everything it needs to stay looking good.
