What Does A Lawn Aerator Do
Now that you know the different features of a lawn aerator, you need to understand how they all work together to actually benefit your lawn lets be honest thats the reason why you are buying one in the first place!
It is a lawn aerators job to pierce holes into the top few layers of soil on your lawn usually with a rotating rollerthat spikes into the ground. However, there are other methods as we have seen above. You need enough holes to be created on your lawn for air, water and nutrients to seep into the holes and reach the roots that are feeding your grass. By aerating your lawn your roots will then grow even deeper into the soil, allowing them to pick up more water and nutrients, and therefore your grass will be in better condition than ever before!
If your lawn has not been aerated for some time, then the water and nutrients will struggle to pass down through the compacted soil, so will often either sit on the top of your grass or will soak down but only into the first layer of soil .
Another use for a lawn aerator is for when you are reseeding your garden. Using a lawn aerator before spreading your seeds will make them much more likely to germinate.
Yard Butler Lawn Coring Aerator 6c
Type Manual Coring Aerator.The Yard Butler Lawn Coring Aerator is a manual lawn plug aerator and dethatcher that reduce the compaction and thatch of the soil and thereby let the air, water and fertilizers down to the root zone. Although, it works best for small lawn areas but it strengthens drought and heat tolerance in the turf.
Body and Material The heavy duty powder coated steel handheld lawn corer is built for a lifetime of use. It enables you to extract a 2 ½ x 3 ½ area to reduce the amount of soil compaction, encourages turf growth and promotes vigorous root growth. 37 tool height is designed to reduce the back strain and thereby eases you to aerate the whole yard. It weighs 3.72 lbs. with dimensions of 1.8 x 8.8 x 36.5.
Working Mechanism Simply place your foot on the foot platform of this aerator and apply pressure to drive the aerator deep into the ground. It enables you to experience extra leverage as it takes off some of the pressure from the arms and shoulders.
Pros
Best Coring Lawn Aerator
One of the best manual lawn plug aerators out there comes from Yard Butler. Their ID-6C model is simple to use and has an ingenious design for stimulating root growth and revitalizing the soil of your lawn. This tool seems to be built to withstand the test of time considering the powder coating applied to the heavy-duty steel body of the aerator.
To make the lawn aeration process less strenuous, this tool features a handy foot bar to give better leverage. The aerator works particularly well for smaller yards and shouldnt cause any back strain. Aside from letting in air, water, and nutrients to rejuvenate the soil, this type of coring aerator is also capable of stimulating root growth. Considering how it does its job just as expected for the cost, the Yard Butler ID-6C represents our top choice.
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Buying Guide For Best Manual Lawn Aerators
You make sure your lawn gets the right amount of water weekly, whether from rain, a hose, or your sprinkler system. You fertilize regularly. You pull pesky weeds as soon as you spot them, and you routinely mow the grass once its a third above the desired height. Yet despite all your care, your neighbors turf looks greener and healthier than yours. If this scenario strikes a chord, the reason might well be a failure to aerate. Luckily, aerating your lawn isnt difficult. And if your patch of grass isnt too large, a manual aerator is enough to get the job done.
Grass roots need to breathe for optimum health, but when soil becomes compacted, turf roots struggle to take in the nutrients, water, and oxygen required to support healthy, green grass. That results in a patchy, unhealthy lawn, even though youre otherwise providing good turf care.
There are a few different types of manual aerators available, so weve done the research for you and provided this handy guide to choosing and using the best manual lawn aerator for your needs, including some we think stand out from the crowd.
How Can You Cheaply Aerate Your Lawn
If you have a small garden area or don’t often aerate your lawn, then the cheapest way is to do manual aeration. The easiest and best way is to buy a spike shoe that you can wear over regular shoes and walk around areas you want to aerate.
But if you still have a large and highly compacted lawn area that needs aeration, the other option is to rent an aerator from a local store.
Home Depot and Lowes rent gardening tools that you can rent cheaply and use them as needed. In this way, you don’t have to invest entirely in owning the tool when you don’t use it often.
Don’t use a tiller to aerate your lawn, as both serve a different purpose. Tiller moves the soil while the aerator punches a hole in the ground. If you use a tiller in your yard for aeration, it will ruin your whole yard, and you have to plant new grass.
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Punchau Lawn Aerator Shoes: Most Durable Product
If you wish your lawn to be green and healthy again, then you should purchase the Punchau Lawn Aerator Shoes. This shoe is designed to fit all shoe sizes, regardless of how big or small the feet might be.
It has three metal straps and a plastic base that fits snuggly into your leg and will not pull off as you walk on your lawn.
It also has metal spikes at the shoe base that help create holes in your garden as you walk on it, thereby loosening the soil enough to allow air, water, and fertilizer to penetrate. Also, this pair of shoe saves time as it requires no assembling, all you need is to strap it to your feet, and you are ready to go.
Question: How Deep Should I Aerate My Lawn
Answer: How deep you aerate depends on the thickness of the thatch layer and the amount of soil compaction. For most lawns aerating to a depth of 2 to 3-inches should be sufficient as long as the thatch is less than 1-inch thick.
Lawns that are heavily compacted or have a significantly thicker layer of that can be aerated to a depth of 4 to 6-inches but may need to be done by a professional to achieve this depth.
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Lawn Care Tractor Attachments
- Tow-behind dethatcher: A tool utilized to remove unhealthy levels of thatch from your lawn, letting water and sunlight reach the roots of your grass.
- Tow-behind lawn roller: Essential before sowing new grass on empty soil, this tool is used to level the surface of the ground.
- Tow behind tiller: Help you till large plots with ease before planting.
- Tow-behind sprayer: If you want to apply liquid fertilizer instead of granular one or for pesticides and herbicides, a tow-behind lawn sprayer is essential.
- Tow-behind spreader: The equivalent of a sprayer, the spreader is used for sprinkling granular matter onto the soil, be it fertilizer, seeds, or lime.
- Tow-behind lawn sweeper: A lawn tractor attachment utilized to clean your lawn from fallen leaves and small branches during fall.
Aerator Or Universal Tow Behind Platform
The aerator is just one of the many tools you need for garden and lawn maintenance. Thats why some brands also manufacture tow-behind platforms.
These versatile platforms are compatible with a wide range of attachments and come as a great alternative to each separate machine if you want to save some money. For proper, all-around lawn care, you will usually need the equipment below in addition to the aerator.
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How Often Should I Use A Lawn Core Aerator
You should aerate your lawn at least once per year to loosen the soil and enable nutrients to penetrate the roots. However, we recommend aerating your lawn twice per year, particularly if you have compacted soil or soil with clay content.
Expert Tip
To provide the best health for your lawn, aerate your lawn in the spring and then again in the fall when the weather is cool.
Did you know?
In medieval England, lawns first started to become popular in areas surrounding castles. This was so that the watchmen found it easier to scan the horizon for enemies.
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.
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Best Lawn Aerator Shoes
Some people feel that using a regular manual lawn aerator tool is too exhausting. In that case, you could try lawn aerator shoes that enable you to use your own weight more efficiently to aerate the soil. Take a close look at this heavy-duty unit from GoPPa. The shoes have a strong design with nice adjustability features so you can use them well regardless of shoe size.
While in some cases shoes arent as effective as stronger tools, you can really count on this model to do a good job with less effort. Once youve done the proper adjustment, the shoes become quite fun to use and make it a breeze to aerate a large area. A few spare parts have been supplied to ensure that you have a quick replacement in case straps or nails get broken.
The Best Lawn Aerators For 2021
- Collection bag included
Our Take Away
Overall, we were very impressed with how well the Sun Joe performed when it comes to removing thick thatch from lawns, and the bag catcher is a big advantage over the Greenworks model which has no bag collection.
In fact, if it wasnt for the Greenworks 14 width requiring fewer rows to aerate Sun Joe would have our vote as the #1 aerator. With Sun Joe youll easily be able to free up your grass to grow green and healthy for the best lawn youve ever maintained and does it at a bargain of a price.
Keep in mind, that by dethatching your lawn and removing dead grass, you are also opening up the yard to receive more oxygen, nutrients, water, and sunlight, And, these factors all contribute to growing your lawn quicker, healthier, and greener. A healthy lawn also deters weed growth!
Sun Joe
- Pet and child safe
Our Take Away
We were skeptical about this product, but based on our research and other user reviews, it appears to work quite well. Simple Solutions has garnered over 1,000 reviews on Amazon With an average 4.5 rating. Thats impressive.
Liquid Aerator is especially useful for those with smaller lawns, those who do not want to invest or have room for more equipment but do want to promote better water absorption into their lawn.
Honesty, as good as this product fills another aeration solution, liquid aeration doesnt effectively promote a healthy lawn as well as mechanical aeration does.
Simple Solutions Liquid Aeration
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How Do Lawn Aerators Work
Lawn aerators are simple but effective. These tools pierce small holes in the soil of your grass. Aerators can be manual or towed behind a lawn tractor. Regardless of the type, the process is the same. These holes in the lawn allow water, oxygen, seeds, and nutrients to fall right down to the roots. Aerating the lawn can also prevent the upper layers of soil from becoming too heavily compacted.
Best Plug Aerator: Agri
- 32 galvanized knives to penetrate the soil easily.
- Pulls plugs up to 3 inches deep for thicker and healthier lawn.
- Flat free tires for smooth transport.
Agri-Fab manufactures several different makes, models, and styles of lawn aerators, but this tow-behind option is our top pick when it comes to plug aerators.
It utilizes plug aeration to remove sections of soil from the ground, helping to remove heavy compaction with its 32 galvanized knives. It can support up to 140 pounds and is 48 inches wide the weight is important when it comes to penetrating heavily compacted lawns. By adding weight to the weight tray, you can increase the knives ability to penetrate tough lawns.
Made out of heavy-gauge steel, this model is durable and even has a cantilever handle to make it easier to operate.
What We Liked:
When nothing but a spike aerator will do, you may want to consider this option from Craftsman. Craftsman is a highly respected brand when it comes to lawn care and this machine is no exception.
Technically a spike aerator and drop spreader all in one, it has a 100 lb capacity hopper that will allow you to not only aerate your lawn but also to deposit fertilizer, grass seed, ice melt, herbicides, and more. This hopper is made out of 100% rust-proof polypropylene for all-weather durability.
What We Liked:
What We Didnt Like:
- Difficult to assemble, even with instructions
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Why Do I Need To Aerate My Lawn
Lawn aeration reduces soil compaction and controls lawn thatch. Lawn thatch is an organic matter made up of dead grass and roots that collect at the base of the living grass on your lawn, making it difficult for water, oxygen, and other nutrients to get to the roots of your grass. Aeration causes root division, which rarely happens naturally. By causing roots to multiply, aeration multiples the number of grass blades overall. This keeps your lawn thick and deeply rooted as the holes become engorged with roots.
Cost Of Purchasing An Aerator
Because lawn aerators are seldom used , its only wise to purchase aerators that are pocket-friendly. Reasonable aerator shoes cost about $20, which when considering their benefit is relatively cheap as it provides excellent results and gets the job done.
Aerators shoes can also be cleaned and stored quickly making them an excellent option to consider when making a choice. On the other hand, handheld manual aerators cost twice as much as aerator shoes while the larger aerators, which can be either towed behind or pushed, cost between $150 to $200.
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Do You Need To Aerate Your Lawn
Whether you need to aerate depends on the soil condition in your yard. You don’t need to aerate if the soil is loose and has low density. However, there are several benefits to aerate lawn. It should be a part of the regular garden maintenance process.
Here are some benefits of aerating:
- Improves the air, water, and nutrients flow in the soil. It makes the soil more fertile and enables healthier plant growth.
- Creates a lush green beautiful grass.
- Helps remove thatch, dead plant or grassroots, that hinders the passing of air and nutrients inside the soil.
- Makes your yard more resistant to heat stress and drought conditions.
- Encourages roots to spread more in-depth in the soil
You may have to aerate the frequently used areas of lawn where people or pets walk. The consistent foot traffic compacts the ground and makes the area dry and spongy.
A newly build or renovated home lawn also needs aeration as the massive construction machinery often compacts the soil.
If you see dry patching or dying grass in your lawn, aeration around that area often helps the grass to recover without needing any excessive intervention.
The Benefits Of Aeration
So, why would you bother with aerating your lawn? Dethatching and aeration have many benefits for your grass.
Here are our top benefits for aerating your lawn this growing season.
- The soil loosens and absorbs more water from rainfall and watering practices.
- Aeration reduces compaction, allowing the roots of your grass to breathe and absorb nutrients.
- The thatching breaks down much easier, resulting in more water reaching the roots of your grass.
- Your lawn becomes more resistant to heat stress and drought conditions.
- The oxygen flow to the roots of your grass increases, spurring lawn growth.
- Your lawn gets robust root development.
- You decrease water run-off in your lawn significantly.
As you can see, its to your benefit to dethatch and aerate your lawn at least once a season. If you aerate your grass, it stimulates growth by increasing your lawns ability to breathe and absorb water and nutrients.
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