Plugging Away For a Better Lawn

Print This

You wouldn’t think that punching holes in something you value would be very desirable, but that’s exactly what your lawn may be craving. The top of your yard’s soil can get compacted, especially in high-traffic areas, restricting the growth of your grass’s roots and adversely affecting its health. To help combat this, you can aerate your lawn. Aerating involves removing plugs of grass and soil from your lawn, thereby creating small holes. It’s all about helping your yard to breathe so that oxygen and nutrients can get into the soil. It’s especially important for soils that drain poorly, like clay, or grasses that create thick hatch, like Bermuda.

Aeration holes are usually several inches deep and several inches apart. The aerator cuts the plugs and leaves them on top of the lawn. This improves the roots access to water, fertilizers, and sunshine. It also improves drainage. When the aerator cuts the plugs, it also cuts the roots of the grass and stimulates it to produce new shoots and roots that grow in the newly available space, helping to thicken your lawn. In addition, the plugs will break down over time and feed microorganisms that work to decompose your thatch. There are aerators that drive a spike into the ground to create the holes instead of pulling out plugs but they’re not as beneficial to your lawn and may further compact your soil. When your lawn is healthier, it’s more resistant to drought and disease.

There are both manual and power tools you can use to aerate your lawn. While manual aerators work fine for smaller areas, power aerators work much better for larger areas. Also, there are special shoes you can wear to walk around aerating your lawn but they do not penetrate as deep or wide as a normal aerator and the soil doesn’t get the proper amount of oxygen that it needs.

The type of your grass dictates when it’s the best time to aerate. If you have cool climate grass, it’s best to aerate in the fall, leaving several weeks of good growing weather so that your grass can recover. If you have warm climate grass, you’ll want to aerate in late spring or early summer, while the grass is growing well. Avoid mid Summer or when the lawn is already stressed. Also avoid times when there are a lot of weed seeds in the area because they will have an easier time getting established.

Aeration is a simple way to promote a healthy lawn. For more information about aeration and general lawn care, visit the Sod and Hydro Seeding contractor at EnhanceScape.