If it's important to you to maintain a beautiful lawn, you may have many
questions about lawn aeration. You may even be wondering why you should hire a
company to aerate your lawn, how often it should be done, etc.
The following
will provide some useful information on the aeration of your lawn, and answer many
questions you may have about aeration.
Having your lawn aerated is essential at least once a year (and ideally twice a
year) in order to maintain the beauty of your grass. In order to yield a
beautiful, healthy lawn, it is necessary for both water and air to reach the
root system all times of the year.
Two things that often prevent the proper flow of air and water are:
1. Excess Grass Thatch
2. Compacted soil
Aeration aids in correcting the lack of water and air penetration in compacted
soil by strategically placing holes in the soil with a special piece of
machinery. Larger holes are put into areas of soil that are more compact. Some
common reasons soil may become compact, and prevent the proper penetration of
air and water to the root system of your grass, are:
1. Prolonged weight on the area
2. Vehicle traffic
3. Heavy mowers (such as
zero turn mowers)
4. Excessive foot traffic
There are several types of aerators lawn service companies will use. The most
common type of aerator is one where the lawn service professional will walk
behind. The plugs, or holes , the machine makes in your yard will commonly be
2-3 inches apart, and 1-2 inches deep. In more compact areas, sometimes the
depth will be up to 3 inches to help ensure better air and water absorption.
For best results, aeration should be done once in the spring, before
fertilization, and once in the fall, after de-thatching. Since the aeration
helps your lawn soil with the ability to absorb, it is best to have your
fertilizers and pesticides applied directly after aerating. Even though it is
recommended aeration be performed twice a year, some companies recommend it only
being done once a year, right before the ground freezes, and directly after
de-thatching.
In order to maintain a beautiful healthy yard, it is essential to have your yard
aerated at least once, but ideally twice a year. When done once, the best time
would be in the fall, right before the ground freezes. When done twice, it
should be done once in the spring, before fertilization, and once in the fall,
after de-thatching. In doing so, it will help to ensure that the root system of
your lawn will get the necessary amounts of air and water.