If you are like most people, you are proud of your yard. Or a least want to be. If you want that lush grass for throwing parties or just bragging rights, you need to aerate your lawn every two to three years at least. Don't panic aerating your lawn is an easy process, it is really quite simple, you just create little holes so the grass has room to grow.
You see the soil in your yard loses it's porosity and becomes compacted. Heavy use while walking or running, your kids, hell even the rain adds to this compaction. Your poor trampled lawn can hold less water, oxygen, and the nutrients can't seep deep into the dirt, to force the roots to grow deeper to get it. Without deep roots, you have a dingy looking lawn, with brown spot and crappy looking grass, And the fertilizer you put out to feed it just runs away with the rain.
Aerating your lawns is the simplest thing that you can do. All it is is punching hole in the soil of your yard. As you can see they make shoes that will do the job. They look like they could work. I have never tried them but have linked to Amazon (for selfish reasons a small commission) On the golf courses that I worked they had a pull-behind that took out little plugs and dumped them as they pulled, When you are up in PA and they are aerating your golf course it is time to get back south.
The first thing that you need to do before aerating your lawn is water it. It is that simple. Your yard needs to be moist, not wet, moist so the plugs won't stick or the spikes will penetrate into the dirt. Chances are that one watering will not work. It needs to be watered thoroughly
If you happen to be in a rainy part of your year you just have to wait till it dries a bit. Down here in the south it will only take a day, it might not take a day depending on how much sand you have. When you get above the Mason Dixon line and the soil starts to turn into mud when it rains, let the mud leave and then (never aerated up north) I would just poke it with a stick, You want the soil moist enough to come up in little plugs but not cling to the tines of the aerator. It seems to me if it is moist enough to make a little ball out of the dirt it should be good.
Once you get the soil right (it really isn't that hard to know when you have enough moister) and you think that it's moist enough take the aerator and run it in two different directions. It is like fertilizing you want to make sure that you have good coverage.
Another thing before you run the aerator mark you sprinkler lines and sprinklers. You don't want to have repairs to do after your done aerating. Think about any cable or lines that might be buried. Your sprinkler system will have small wires buried with the tubing.
If you can, put a top dressing on after you get the lawn aerated. You really do need to fertilize the yard and water it in. You want the fertilizer to get down in the holes. For your topdressing, you can use the composted grass that you have been cutting. You just need an out of sight place to pile the grass. The more you turn your grass clippings the quicker it will compost.
If your lawn is thin or weak. If your thatch is more than an inch thick If you have high traffic on your poor yard it is time to aerate. If your yard is in good shape aerate every two years when your grass is actively growing.
Northern grasses should be aerated in early fall, Aerating in the spring can damage new grass shoots. Southern grasses should be aerated in mid-spring and early summer
Lawn aeration helps in increasing microbial activity in soil that helps in thatch decomposition. Also, the airy soil helps in better penetration of water and other nutrients to the plant roots thereby promoting their faster growth. The other benefits of lawn aeration include an decrease in the water you will need due to the incursion of more rainwater in the soil.
You see the soil in your yard loses it's porosity and becomes compacted. Heavy use while walking or running, your kids, hell even the rain adds to this compaction. Your poor trampled lawn can hold less water, oxygen, and the nutrients can't seep deep into the dirt, to force the roots to grow deeper to get it. Without deep roots, you have a dingy looking lawn, with brown spot and crappy looking grass, And the fertilizer you put out to feed it just runs away with the rain.
How to Aerate Your Lawn
Aerating your lawns is the simplest thing that you can do. All it is is punching hole in the soil of your yard. As you can see they make shoes that will do the job. They look like they could work. I have never tried them but have linked to Amazon (for selfish reasons a small commission) On the golf courses that I worked they had a pull-behind that took out little plugs and dumped them as they pulled, When you are up in PA and they are aerating your golf course it is time to get back south.
The first thing that you need to do before aerating your lawn is water it. It is that simple. Your yard needs to be moist, not wet, moist so the plugs won't stick or the spikes will penetrate into the dirt. Chances are that one watering will not work. It needs to be watered thoroughly
If you happen to be in a rainy part of your year you just have to wait till it dries a bit. Down here in the south it will only take a day, it might not take a day depending on how much sand you have. When you get above the Mason Dixon line and the soil starts to turn into mud when it rains, let the mud leave and then (never aerated up north) I would just poke it with a stick, You want the soil moist enough to come up in little plugs but not cling to the tines of the aerator. It seems to me if it is moist enough to make a little ball out of the dirt it should be good.
Once you get the soil right (it really isn't that hard to know when you have enough moister) and you think that it's moist enough take the aerator and run it in two different directions. It is like fertilizing you want to make sure that you have good coverage.
Another thing before you run the aerator mark you sprinkler lines and sprinklers. You don't want to have repairs to do after your done aerating. Think about any cable or lines that might be buried. Your sprinkler system will have small wires buried with the tubing.
If you can, put a top dressing on after you get the lawn aerated. You really do need to fertilize the yard and water it in. You want the fertilizer to get down in the holes. For your topdressing, you can use the composted grass that you have been cutting. You just need an out of sight place to pile the grass. The more you turn your grass clippings the quicker it will compost.
When to Aerate your yard (Lawn)
If your lawn is thin or weak. If your thatch is more than an inch thick If you have high traffic on your poor yard it is time to aerate. If your yard is in good shape aerate every two years when your grass is actively growing.
Northern grasses should be aerated in early fall, Aerating in the spring can damage new grass shoots. Southern grasses should be aerated in mid-spring and early summer
Lawn aeration helps in increasing microbial activity in soil that helps in thatch decomposition. Also, the airy soil helps in better penetration of water and other nutrients to the plant roots thereby promoting their faster growth. The other benefits of lawn aeration include an decrease in the water you will need due to the incursion of more rainwater in the soil.
How to aerate and seed tall fescue grass turf basic 101
Uploaded on Sept 1, 2017
How to aerate and seed basic 101. Tall fescue grass seed. This shows a basic aeration and seeding in tall fescue turf. Aeration and seeding should be done EVERY fall even in a near perfect lawn.
Thank you for reading my post "Lawns Enhance With Lawn Aeration ". Take a look at my most recent post. You might find something that interests you.
Thanks again and Y'all come back now.
Keep Smiling
reuben
i agree that lawn aeration is the best lawn care you can give your beloved landscaped lawn. I have done it in mine and it really helped a lot.
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking the time to comment. I work hard on this and a comment is like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.
DeleteThanks again and y'all come back now
Keep Smiling
reuben
Can we aerate a lawn with a detacher with a low setting. We bought an electric dethatcher GreenWorks 27022 ?. Any insight into this will save me big hassle for us. We live in suburbs of Philadelphia.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Sri
hi sorry it took so long to answer. Sometimes you just have to do what got to be done. But to answer your question. No.
DeleteA dethatcher is designed to just get the dead grass of the top of the soil. That way it get a little sunshine. An aerator actually makes little holes in the soil. I went and asked google where you could rent one and here is the link to the yellow pages for Philadelphia.
http://www.yellowpages.com/philadelphia-pa/lawn-garden-equipment-supplies-renting
I hope this helps
Keep Smiling
reuben