Using A Professional Lawn Aeration Service In Cincinnati Dayton Ohio Or Northern Kentucky
Now that weve highlighted some of the reasons why tackling aeration on your own might be more of a burden than you realize, lets look at having it done by a professional. Essentially, all of the issues that are a concern when trying to do it on your own disappear when you hire a professional to do the service.
You will not have to worry about using rental equipment or dealing with adverse weather conditions. A professionallawn aeration service in Cincinnati, Dayton, Ohio or Northern Kentucky will always have the best equipment available and be ready to perform the service when the timing is right.
At Oasis Turf & Tree, our core aerators are designed to pull more holes per square foot than any typical rental machine. These deeper plugs are especially beneficial to your lawn because the soil compaction is better relieved.
In addition, our technicians use our custom ride-on aerators to do a double-pass aeration across the lawn. This extra measure is not something that many aeration companies do, and if you try it yourself, its likely you would find you dont have the energy to do this either, since a traditional push-aerator is exhausting enough to use on a single trip over the grass. But our two passes across the lawn mean even better results, with more soil compaction relief.
How To Aerate Your Lawn
Aerating equipment comes in three main types, from small manual versions to larger tractor-like or pull-behind machinery:
- Spike aerators simply poke a hole down into the soil with a solid, spike-like tine. Some homeowners wear spiked aerator sandals” strapped to their shoes to aerate as they do yard work. While these can help on a small scale, spike machines can make compaction worse by pressing soil together around the holes.1
- Slicing aerators have rotating blades that cut or slice through grass and thatch and down into soil. Like spike aerators, slicing aerators leave soil in the ground, but they create pathways for air, water and nutrients without causing more compaction.
- Core or plug aerators, typically preferred by lawn professionals, use rows of hollow tines that remove plugs of soil from your lawn and deposit them on top, where they break down. The size of the plugs and the holes they create vary in width and depth, depending on the machine used.
You can hire a lawn service to aerate for you or do it yourself like a pro. Equipment rental companies and lawn and garden stores often rent aerator machines and provide basic operating instructions for the model you choose. Aerating is a lot like mowing as you work back and forth across your lawn. Concentrate on any known problem areas, like pet runs or backyard baseball diamonds. Make several passes in different directions to help ensure optimal coverage and benefits.
Why Aerating Helps Lawns
Grass roots need air, water and nutrients to grow thick, deep and strong. When soil becomes compacted, even slightly, it inhibit the flow of the essentials that support thicker, healthier turf growth. A layer of compacted soil just 1/4 to 1/2 inches thick can make a significant difference in the health and beauty of your lawn.1 Aeration creates holes down into the soil to alleviate compaction so air, water and nutrients can reach grass roots.
Deprived of their basic needs by compacted soil, lawn grasses struggle in stressful situations, such as heat and low rainfall, and lose their healthy, rich color. Grasses gradually thin and eventually die out completely, for lack of the oxygen, water and nutrients available just inches away. Even a single aeration session can open the avenue for these essentials to reach their mark and put your lawn back on an upward trend.
Core aerators pull small plugs of soil to the surface.
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Diy Lawn Aeration Costs
If you aerate your lawn yourself, you wont have to pay for labor, but you will have to buy or rent an aerator. According to Weed Pro, a handheld core aerator, which you operate manually, typically costs about $25 to $30. Models that attach to the back of a ride-on lawnmower or small tractor may cost around $200 but complete the job more quickly.
If youd prefer to rent equipment, it’s available at most large home improvement stores and equipment rental centers. Rental costs vary by retailer, but tend to run about $60 for a four-hour period or $90 for the entire day. Youll also have to leave a deposit, which is usually refundable as long as the equipment is returned on time and in good condition.
Why Should You Aerate Your Lawn
It is important for you to aerate your lawn in order to alleviate soil compaction, which prevents proper air, water, and nutrient circulation in the soil. Soil compaction occurs when there are too many solid particles within a space.
Soil should be aerated on a regular basis because compacted soil can squish the roots, inhibiting their ability to function. Too much debris on the lawn can also prevent the roots from absorbing the necessary nutrients.
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How Often And When To Aerate Your Lawn
Soil texture has a lot to do with how often aeration should be performed. All soil is composed of small particles which vary in size, shape, and composition. There are three categories for soil particles: sand, loam, and clay, which are divided by size. Of the three, clay particles are the smallest, which means the soil packs very easily. That makes it challenging for the soil to get what it needs to thrive.
Due to the clay soil that is prevalent in the Lehigh Valley, we advise that a lawn aerating service is performed every year. The fall is the best time to aerate as this is also the time that we would overseed. It is best for the seeds to fall into the holes we create through aeration in order to get them into the soil.
Overseeding is best done in the fall because weather conditions are ideal for growth. While the soil is still warm, the air is cool. This provides the best possible growing conditions for seed germination which, in turns, improves the chance of new grass survival.
Tools Used For Lawn Aeration
Lawn Aeration can be completed with either a manual tool, which is operated standing up or a power tool. First, let us discuss the types of manual tools that can be used for the process. The two main types are a spike lawn aerator and a plug aerator.
A spike lawn aerator is a garden tool designed to assist you in creating small holes into the ground with a solid tine.
A plug aerator removes a core or plug of grass and soil from the lawn. It executes the process through spikes that consist of hollow cylinders. This creates deeper holes than a spike lawn aerator. But it tends to need more labor and does not have as much coverage as a spike lawn one.
Manual aerators are effective, but they can be labor intensive if your lawn is considerably vast.
A power aerator is a commercial lawn aerator that is ideal for those who have a vast lawn. If cost is a deciding factor, keep in mind that power aerators are more expensive than manual ones. Additionally, if you decide on a power aerator, we recommend that you purchase a coring model.
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So What Do You Need To Do To Prepare For Aeration With Trugreen
When Is The Best Time To Aerate Your Lawn
Do’s
We have long winters here in Calgary and Edmonton. It is best to wait for your lawn to thaw completely and be free of winter-freezing to determine if it needs aeration.For most lawns, between May and June is the best time to aerate. If required, it can be performed again in the fall.There are no hard and fast rules for aeration but a minimum of once per year in the spring is a good guideline to use.As mentioned, make sure all the snow is gone and the lawn is well thawed. Aerating a lawn when it is moist allows you to pull bigger plugs, which will be healthier in the long run for your lawn.
Dont’s
Aeration immediately after heavy rainfall is not recommended as soil cores may stick in the hollow tines of the aerator.You will also need to make sure that the grass is not too green or the active roots will prevent the plugs from breaking down. If you have to aerate in the summer, you may not be able to avoid this but the process will still benefit your lawn.In the case of a dry spring, we recommend watering the lawn well before aerating .If you prefer to aerate your lawn in autumn, do it before the ground has started to freeze.
Yardworx’s NoteYou can book our lawn aeration services anytime between .
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Lawn Aeration Services & Guide To Core Aeration
Lawn aeration is essential to improve the overall health and appearance of your lawn. In the same way that a farmers field is plowed every year, your lawn needs to be aerated, usually in the spring and fall. Aeration is needed due to thatch buildup and soil compaction. These two issues can be caused by a number of things including heavy use of your yard or waterlogged soil. When soil compacts, your lawns roots struggle to get oxygen and water, or find much-needed nutrients, causing shallow roots and reduced thickness and growth.
Lawn Doctors aeration service can help prevent these issues and make sure your lawn continues to flourish year-round.
More Reason To Aerate Your Lawn
After a long, hot and dry summer, your lawn needs some time to breathe. A fall aeration removes finger-sized plugs from your lawn loosening compact soil and allowing nutrients, water and oxygen to penetrate the root system.
During the summer, your lawn is also stressed, which leads to thinning areas on your lawn. Overseeding in the early fall helps to reestablish your lawn before winter dormancy ensuring youll have a full, lush lawn come the spring.
Aeration is critical in the spring since root growth tends to accelerate at this time of year. Turf also grows very quickly during the April-June period, so it makes sense to aerate since turf roots need oxygen and nutrients that aeration can facilitate.
Because we design and install sprinkler systems, Swingle understands the importance of locating existing sprinkler heads before beginning your aeration and ultimately working around them. If for some reason a sprinkler head is damaged during service, our dedicated team of professionals will repair or it at no additional change.
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Should You Be Aerating Your Lawn
One of the most common questions from homeowners is how to determine if they should be aerating their lawn. Your lawn is probably a good candidate for aeration if it:
- Gets heavy use, such as serving as the neighborhood playground or racetrack. Children and pets running around the yard contribute to soil compaction.
- Was established as part of a newly constructed home. Often, the topsoil of newly constructed lawns is stripped or buried, and the grass established on subsoil has been compacted by construction traffic.
- Dries out easily and has a spongy feel. This might mean your lawn has an excessive thatch problem. Take a shovel and remove a slice of lawn about four inches deep. If the thatch layer is greater than one-half inch, aeration is recommended.
- Was established by sod, and soil layering exists. Soil layering means that soil of finer texture, which comes with imported sod, is layered over the existing coarser soil. This layering disrupts drainage, as water is held in the finer-textured soil. This leads to compacted conditions and poor root development. Aerating breaks up the layering, allowing water to flow through the soil more easily and reach the roots.
We Aerate Lawns In Edmonton And Surrounding Areas
Weed Patrol Lawn Care has over 30 years experience keeping lawns green and weed-free in the Edmonton area. We offer several lawn care packages throughout the season, and our staff is professionally trained, certified, licensed, and insured. Our mission is to ensure you have a green and weed-free lawn.
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What It Is Lawn Aeration
Aerating your grass is one of the most efficient methods to maintain it to be healthy, strong, and vibrant. Aeration of your grass involves eliminating soil plugs, resulting in areas that encourage healthy root growth. The space produced by removing the plugs helps the rootstock of your garden to spread and flourish. Aeration also increases water flow and gives your plant roots access to plant food and minerals easily. This post will go over lawn aerator suggestions and show you how to use one to obtain a stunning garden.
How To Dethatch Your Lawn
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Why Is Lawn Aeration Necessary
In most Ontario home lawns, the natural soil has been seriously disturbed by the building process. Fertile topsoil may have been removed or buried during excavation of the basement or footings, leaving subsoil that is more compact, higher in clay content and less desirable for healthy lawn growth. These lawns need aeration to improve the depth and extent of turfgrass rooting and to improve fertilizer and water use.
Intensively used lawns are exposed to stress from traffic injury. Walking, playing and mowing are forms of traffic that compact soil and stress lawns. Raindrops and irrigation increase soil density by compacting soil particles and reducing large air spaces where roots may readily grow.
Aeration, especially liquid aeration, helps heavily used lawns and lawns growing on compacted soils by improving the depth and extent of turfgrass rooting, allowing better water uptake, enhancing fertilizer use and speeding up thatch breakdown.
Most home lawns are subject to thatch accumulation. If thatch is left unmanaged, it can lead to serious maintenance and pest problems. For example, thatch accumulation of more than ½ inch on Kentucky bluegrass lawns impedes water fertilizer and pesticide effectiveness. Liquid Aeration reduces thatch accumulation, minimizes its buildup and modifies its makeup by incorporating soil into the thatch.
What Are The Benefits Of Soil Aeration
Is aerating your soil really worth the time and expense? Yes, it is. Aeration provides a host of major benefits to your soil and your grass. Some of the benefits that come with aeration include:
- Improved air exchange: After a tough season of winter weather or a full fall of playing outdoors with the kids, your lawn can become compacted. Compacted soil restricts air and nutrient flow between the atmosphere and your grasss roots, which can cause your lawn to look dry or develop brown patches. Annual aeration improves the exchange of air flow between your soil and the atmosphere, which helps ensure that your grass can grow to its full potential.
- Enhanced water intake: Like oxygen, water can have a more difficult time traveling through compacted soil. If the roots of your grass dont have access to an adequate supply of water, youll notice brown patches forming in your lawn. Aeration helps improve the flow of nutrients and water from the soil to the roots of your lawn.
- Reduces stagnating water: Have you noticed puddles of stagnating water pooling on your lawn? These puddles arent just annoying when you take your dog out in the morningthey can also create the perfect conditions for mold and other types of lawn funguses to take root on your property. In the summer season, standing pools of water can also quickly become a hotbed for mosquito breeding as well.
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Herbicides Fertilizers & Aeration
Its best to aerate before you apply pre-emergence herbicides, rather than after. Aerating after a herbicide application can reduce the chemical barrier formed by the herbicide, allowing weeds to germinate. Applying fertilizer after aeration helps the lawn compete against weeds. Water the lawn after aeration, particularly in areas where drought and high temperatures are common.
