What Fertilizer Should I Use After Aeration
How To Aerate your Lawn EASY CORE AERATION
After Aeration Overseed and Fertilize For best results, use high-quality seed and fertilize with Milorganite®. Mixing grass seed with Milorganite is an effective way to spread seed accurately.
Is aeration better in spring or fall? When to Aerate Your Lawn If the soil is so compacted that existing grass cant grow, it may be necessary to aerate in the spring. But the very best time to aerate is in the fall when the temperatures have cooled off, when the weed pressure is minimal, and when grass is actively growing.
How do I know if my lawn needs aeration?
10 Signs Its Time To Aerate & Seed Your Lawn
Proper Lawn Maintenance And Reducing Thatch:
Mulch Regularly: Mulching is done using a special lawnmower. The blade chops up the grass into pieces which are much smaller than what a regular lawn mower can achieve. The clippings sit on the surface of the lawn where they help hold in moisture and provide nutrients as they break down over time.
Grass Length: All grasses should be kept to a length of 3-4.5 inches. Any shorter and the lawn will lose moisture rapidly. Also, short grass can attract pests like root-eating grubs and weeds. Long grass will lean over and hold in too much moisture, creating mold. The height of the blades should be roughly equivalent to the depth of the roots. If the grass has grown too tall, cut it down in two passes several days apart. A good rule is to not cut more than 1/3 of the grass height in a given day.
Mowing Speed: When mulching, walk slower than usual in order to allow the grass to chop up finely. Set the mower to its highest speed setting. A sharp blade is a must.
Preparing To Aerate Your Yard
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When To Aerate The Lawn
The best time to use aerating lawn tools depends on the type of grass you have. Cool-season grasses, such as fescue, bluegrass, or ryegrass, should be aerated in early spring or early fall. Warm-season turf, including Bermuda grass, zoysia, or St. Augustine, does best with aeration in the late spring. Whatever your type of grass, do not aerate the lawn within one year of planting seed or sod.
Mistake: Aerating In Summer Or Winter
One of the most common amateur mistakes is aerating in the hot and dry conditions of summer. You should never aerate in hot temperatures or dry conditions.
Aeration is designed to alleviate stressed-out lawns after a harsh season and prepare the yard for the next tough one.
Your lawn needs mild temperatures and extra rainfall to help it quickly fill in those core holes and boost root and grass growth. Bottom line:
This treatment will likely only cause further stress if you aerate during a stressful season.
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Reasons To Hire A Professional
Investing in professional lawn aeration presents a number of advantages, beyond freeing up your time for other activities.
Professional lawn care companies have the right equipment, allowing the job to be done quickly and correctly. Theres no need to buy or rent an aerator. Professionals have a better understanding of your lawns needs and will know the best time to aerate and overseed your lawn. Not only will they time the aeration correctly, but they will also apply the right balance of fertilizer and seed post-aeration to ensure the best grass possible. More peace of mind. Many lawn care companies will offer a guarantee of results and will keep working on your yard until you are satisfied. If you DIY, you may spend hundreds of dollars on supplies, only to be disappointed or frustrated by the results. Professionals will properly prep the lawn for aeration to ensure the best results.
As always, there are some pros and cons to hiring a professional. However, by the time you acquire the right equipment, you may spend about the same amount of cash either way.
If you dont have time to invest in aerating your lawn, contact TruGreen so you can have an envy-worthy lawn to make the neighbors turn their heads.
Professional Lawn Care Aeration And Treatment
The cost to aerate your lawn by hiring a lawn care company is about $15 to $17 per thousand square feet. The average lawn size is about ten thousand square feet, making the average aeration cost around $150. It will take a lawn care company about 30 minutes to aerate a ten thousand square foot lawn. Adding overseeding and fertilizing to your aeration will bump up the cost. The cost of aeration, overseeding, and fertilizing is around $250 to $300 if you use a lawn care company.
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Mistake: Thinking Aeration Is Easy To Manage On Your Own
Aeration is not a task to be taken lightly. Take the time to do some research to learn all that is involved in aerating on your own. Aeration requires a lot of time, muscle, and skill.
The equipment necessary is large, very heavy, tricky to maneuver, and not the cheapest item to rent. If you think you can handle this mighty chore, start your research here to learn how to aerate your lawn.
When To Aerate Your Lawn
As with most larger lawn projects, such as planting grass seed, it’s best to aerate during or right before the time your grasses reach their peak time for natural growth. Aeration is good for lawns, but it can stress grass if timed improperly. Never aerate dormant lawns.
For cool-season grasses common in northern lawns, early fall or early spring are the best times for aerating. For warm-season grasses common to southern lawns, the best time for aerating is late spring or very early summer. When aeration coincides with active growth, grasses recover quickly and fill in areas where aerator equipment exposes soil.
Aerating is easiest on you and your lawn when your soil is moist from irrigation or rainfall the day before. Overly dry soil can be tough to aerate, so moisture eases the process. Never aerate overly wet lawns wait a few days instead.
Slicing aerators slice through lawns and leave soil in place.
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Signs You Need To Aerate Your Lawn
Heads up: not every lawn needs aeration. Newly planted lawns, for example, need time to establish, so they dont need lawn service. However, there are some unmistakable signs your lawn needs aeration.
These include:
- Pools of water collecting on the lawn after rainfall
- Your kids and pets have been running on it all spring and summer long
- This is a new home construction
- Has a spongy feel and dries out easily
- Established by sod, rather than grass seed, and comes with a fine texture of soil layer that then disrupts drainage
- Thatch one and a half-inch thick overlaying grass
- You have heavy clay soil
- Some parts of your lawn are thin, patchy, or bare
- Thick outcroppings of clover
Even if none of these signs apply, you can perform a simple aeration test to check for compacted soil.
How to Perform a Soil Aeration Test
Assess your grasss health by pushing a screwdriver or pencil all the way into the soil. Choose a spot that has slightly moist soil. Compacted soil will be difficult to drive straight into. Thats your first sign.
Next, to confirm compaction, excavate about a square foot of turf, with soil, using a shovel. If youre unable to sink the shovel to a depth of half the blade, youre dealing with compacted soil.
Once you do dig up the grass and soil combo, look for thatch and examine the roots. If you see A chaotic weave of living and dead organic material more than one-half inch thick sitting between the living grass blades and excavated soil is grounds for aeration.
Why Is Core Aeration Necessary
Over time, soil becomes compacted. This makes it difficult for water, air, and nutrients to penetrate the soil. The purpose of core aeration, then, is to relieve this compaction in your lawn. Core aeration is basically the process of pulling up little dirt plugs out of your lawn to relieve this pressure. Core aeration improves fertilizer uptake reduces water runoff, strengthens roots, reduces compaction, enhances heat and drought tolerance, and improves resiliency.
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How To Aerate Your Lawn Yourself
by Tech | Feb 9, 2021 | Interesting Information |
A lush lawn needs more than just watering. The soil must be aerated, as well. This means breaking up hard soil to allow air and nutrients to penetrate and properly nourish the roots of the grass. While some home owners prefer to hire lawn care services, others are not afraid of using a little elbow grease to aerate and knowing when to fertilize lawn in Denver.
Here is what you should know if you want to aerate the lawn by yourself:
The ideal moment for aerating the lawn depends on the type of grass you have on your lawn. Warms season grass, such as Bermuda grass, needs soil aeration in spring. Cool season grass, such as Kentucky Bluegrass, thrives after an aeration during the fall.
Aeration frequency also depends on the type of soil. Clay soils is more prone to compacting, thus, it requires more frequent aerations. On the other hand, sandy soils are loose by their nature, therefore you do not need aeration more often than once per year.
Before you actually start the aeration process, clean the lawn thoroughly. Use a rake to remove dead leaves, small tree branches and other debris. It is also a good idea to mow your lawn before aeration, because it allows the spikes of the aerator to penetrate deeper. If you have a sprinkler system installed, make sure to turn it off.
What Is The Best Way To Aerate Your Lawn
If you plan on aerating your lawn yourself, look for an aerator that has hollow spikes, such as the Yard Butler lawn coring aerator. The hollow spikes will reduce soil compaction and help create a pathway for moisture and fertilizer.
Scotts recommends doing the following when aerating:
via amazon.com
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Repurposed Oil Drum Aerator
This DIY aerator is made from a five gallon oil drum and its pretty simple to put together. Once the spikes are in place, you add a handle and wheels and then just push the aerator through your yard to keep your soil and grass healthy. This one is so simple and can be really cheap if you have an old oil drum that you can use as the base.
Tutorial: gardeninginfozone
What To Do Before Aerating Your Lawn
- Mow your lawn before watering and aerating it.
- Be sure to water your lawn thoroughly two days before aeration. The tines on the aeration machine penetrate loose soil better than dry soil. If the soil is too dry, the tines will have trouble effectively piercing the ground.
- Avoid aerating immediately after an extended period of rainfall. Soil thats too wet will stick to the inside of the tines instead of falling easily back into the lawn.
- Plan to pass over your lawn in two or more directions. This ensures a more even, thorough coverage. Most sources agree that you should aim for 20 to 40 holes per square foot.
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Diy Or Hire Professionals To Aerate Your Lawn
As with most lawn care tasks, it is possible to aerate your lawn yourself. However, before you set aside a weekend afternoon for the chore, consider the benefits of hiring a lawn care professional. When you consider the pros and cons of DIY aeration vs. those of hiring lawn care professionals, you might find that its worth investing in some expert help.
When Is It Time For Aerating Your Lawn
You should aerate a lawn when soils are moist. Spring is a great time to aerate a lawn made of warm season grass. This is when the grass is actively growing and it will recover quickly from the process. The cooler season lawn is better aerated in fall.
If you are not sure if you need to aerate, simply dig a section of turf out that is at least 1 inch square. If the brownish layer under the green, growing grass is an inch or more, then it is time to aerate. You can also just stab a screwdriver into the sod. If it is difficult to bury the tool to the hilt, it is time to aerate.
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Daleys Turf Directions To Aerating Your Lawn Yourself
When Is The Best Time To Aerate My Lawn
The best time to aerate warm season grasses, such as soft-leaf buffalo, couch, kikuyu and zoysia is during spring and summer while they are actively growing. When you see the first sign of growth after winter and you have some compacted areas, do not delay in getting out in your aeration sandals!
You can aerate at any time of the year, but keep in mind that it’s not a good idea to expose your aerated lawn to cold winter weather without the protection of new growth. Most lawns will be dormant during winter and you wont see any new growth until spring or summer in some locations, so hold off until the time is right for your lawn. If youre not sure about local conditions, just touch base with our Coolabah Turf team.
A helpful tip is always try to aerate at the same time you are fertilising or carrying out any other major lawn care practices such as dethatching or top dressing. After rainfall is also a good time, as it will make the perforation process much easier.
For cool season lawns, such as fescue and ryegrass, the same principle applies. With proper care and a lot of water, cool season lawns can grow all year so you can aerate all year round. Again, keep in mind the absolute best times are when you fertilise, dethatch or top dress and also following rain, when soil moisture levels are high.
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