Who Can Aerate My Lawn

What To Expect After Lawn Aeration Services

Right after aerating your lawn, youll see the small holes in your yard along with the thatch plugs that were pulled from those holes. While temporarily not the most aesthetically pleasing sight, the plugs will break apart in less than two weeks, making your lawn look clear again. Healthy, growing roots will soon fill in the aerated holes, a sure sign that the lawn core aeration is working. It also indicates that the desired results for your thatch and turf are right around the corner.

You should see a lusher, thicker lawn in the weeks and months after lawn aeration services. However, you may still need to get your lawn aerated once a year or so, depending upon the lawn thatch and compaction. Lawns that experience a greater degree of traffic and use may have denser soil and need to be aerated more often.

If youre interested in learning more about lawn aeration services and lawn aeration costs, Lawn Doctor provides a free quote for services, including a free quote. Contact your Lawn Doctor local experts to learn more about our core aeration services and lawn aeration costs and schedule a free quote today.

How Often Should I Aerate

How often you aerate your lawn depends on a few factors. Our turf care experts at Timberline recommend once annually, during fall, for the typical lawn. If your lawn is walked on, mowed, or used very often, this will cause additional compaction. Clay soil types tend to compact more than other soils which could increase the need for aeration.

High use lawns may require twice per year aeration, once in spring and once in fall, to keep them healthy and beautiful. However, the opposite is also true. If your lawn is lush, beautiful, and almost never has foot traffic, aerating every couple of years may be the best fit. Its important to remember, aerating to often can cause way more harm than good for your lawn. If youre unsure how often to aerate or what soil type you have, a turf care expert will assist you in determining your lawn care needs.

Do You Have Aerating Tips To Share

Now that you know how often you should aerate your lawn, its time to get to work!

What has been your experience with aeration? Does it improve your lawn? How often do you do it? What type of aerator have you used? Let us know in the comments below!

The information in this post was based on consulting with local landscapers and my own research. These are the sources Id like to thank:

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Things To Keep In Mind

Aeration and overseeding are two processes that should be done carefully. Making any mistake can lead to opposite results. It can make the soil less healthy and dry and can lead to thinning of the turf.

Here are some things that should be kept in mind while aerating and overseeding the lawn:

• Always choose the right tool to aerate. There are different aeration tools and techniques. If you have no experience in aeration, it is better to take professional help. Choosing worn tools will destroy the turf.
• You should always keep the soil and grass type in mind before aeration. Choosing the wrong time will lead to more harm to the lawn.
• After aeration and overseeding, the lawn should be watered properly. Too much watering will destroy the seeds, and keeping the soil too dry will reduce grass growth.
• You should avoid weedicides and pesticides right after aerating and overseeding.

Aerating the lawn will not only help in making the lawn grow healthily but will also help in making the soil more penetrating. This will help in better growth of the grass that will make the lawn look luscious. From choosing the right season to picking the right tool, you should not make any mistakes. It is always better to call for professionals for help if you dont have prior experience in lawn maintenance and aeration. A good company will help in identifying the right time and aeration process.

The Best Time To Aerate Your Lawn Is Based On 3 Conditions:

Aeration can take place at any time of the year, but the best time is usually in the spring/early summer or fall.

The general recommendation is to core aerate when there is the most root growth. For warm-season grasses: Bermuda, St. Augustine, Centipede, Zoysia, it is in May and June when these grasses are coming out of dormancy. Cool-season grasses: bluegrass, ryegrass and the fescues, receive the most benefits when the lawn is aerated in the fall.

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What Would Happen If You Aerated A Warm

In most cases, nothing bad. The roots of the turfgrass will probably not grow any faster. But there is still the benefit of helping to reduce compaction. When a lawn is aerated, a certain amount of soil is lifted from the lawn and left back on the lawn.

As these cores are broken apart by mowing or melt into the lawn through rain fall or irrigation, the soil will intermingle with the current thatch layer and start feeding on it to naturally break it down. The only concern would be if abnormally cold temperatures were to occur and the ground were to freeze. This may cause some roots to die that are close to the edge of the core holes.

Fall may be the best time to aerate a cool-season lawn, but in some cases, aeration in spring and fall may also be recommended. If the thatch layer has been built up above a half of an inch over a period of time, spring and fall aeration may be the best choice. Many people like to seed after aeration, but we dont recommend seeding a lawn in the spring, since we cannot apply a crabgrass preventer and the lawn will require more watering than it will in the fall.

The most important condition that can affect the quality of aerating a lawn is the amount of moisture that is in the soil. The lawn has to be moist for the tines to penetrate into the ground. Be sure to either wait until after a good rain fall or provide about a half inch of water to the lawn before trying to aerate it.

Can I Aerate My Lawn If I Have A Sprinkler System

If your sprinkler system is older, let us know just in case it might not submerged as deep as new systems. For peace of mind, it is possible to aerate your lawn manually, especially for sprinkler heads with shallow piping. With this process, no plugs are removed but narrow slits are cut into the soil.

Also question is, how do I aerate my lawn with sprinklers?

Check for SprinklersBefore aerating, map out your sprinkler system and make sure there are no pipes or sprinkler equipment close enough to the surface of the lawn to get damaged. You also don’t want to get too close to sprinkler heads as an aerator can easily destroy them.

Also Know, how do I aerate my lawn? With a spike aerator, you simply use the tool to poke holes into the ground with a solid tine, or fork. Plug aerators remove a core or plug of grass and soil from the lawn. For the best results, use an aerating tool or machine that actually removes plugs of soil.

In respect to this, how deep does a lawn aerator go?

Known as a core aerator, it extracts 1/2 to 3/4 inch diameter cores of soil and deposits them on your lawn. Aeration holes are typically 1-6 inches deep and 2-6 inches apart. Other types of aerators push solid spikes or tines into the soil without removing a plug .

Should I fertilize lawn after aerating?

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Can You Aerate Your Lawn Without A Machine

Using a fork A fork can be a useful tool for aerating your lawn. The process is more or less like spike aeration. It is an effective method because it penetrates compacted soils efficiently to loosen the particles, and if you already own a fork, you dont have to spend more money on new tools to aerate your lawn.

How To Aerate Your Lawn Without Machines

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If your lawn is small, or if you have plenty of time on your hands, then aerating your lawn with a machine aerator is unnecessary because you can complete the task with hand-operated tools. Aeration breaks up compacted soil by creating holes in it, helping grass grow vigorously and reducing thatch, moss and other lawn problems. A hand aerifier, which has a set of hollow tubes on a stirrup, or a spading fork, which is a garden fork with flattened tines, can be used to aerate a lawn effectively. The timing for aeration depends on the kind of grass. Aerate a lawn with warm-season grass, such as bermudagrass or centipede grass , in late spring or summer, and aerate a cool-season grass lawn in fall. Bermudagrass is hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 6 through 9 and centipede grass in USDA zones 7b through 11.

Things You Will Need

• Hand aerifier, with tube hollows 1/4 to 1/2 inch in diameter, or spading fork

• Lawn-watering device

• Wheelbarrow or basket

Tip

Warning

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Using A Manual Core Aerator

Straight forward and easy to use, this tool is designed with a handle and a foot bar. To use you hold with both hands and drive it into the soil and use the foot bar if needed. The foot bar is useful for areas that are compacted and difficult to penetrate.

The manual aerator is designed to be used on moist soil and works by penetrating the soil and upper level of lawn with sharp cylinders which make holes/perforations into the turf and remove small plugs of soil when extracted.

Enjoy An Amazing Lawn Without Lifting A Finger

Your lawn gives you so much from perfect sunrises withcoffee to memories of your kids laughing and playing. Make sure it always looksgorgeous by performing regular aeration and overseeding. Contact ourprofessionals at Lush Lawn for expert advice and assistance in keeping yourlawn healthy all year long. We take care of everything so you only have toworry about relaxing and enjoying the view.

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Water The Lawn Immediately

Once you poke the holes, you still arent quite done. Make sure to water the lawn immediately after youve completed the entire lawn. This allows water to go through to the root zone of the grass the most necessary part for nutrients. The grass blades above the soil are aftereffects of the care you show the roots. Additionally, watering, and frequent mowing will minimize the appearance of holes in the lawn.

What Should You Do After Aerating Your Lawn

Whenever possible, combine lawn aeration with other lawn care maintenance, such as fertilizing, adding soil amendments or overseeding. Water, fertilizer and grass seed all need to get through the lawn surface and into the soil to do their job. Creating a path for them to get there can be accomplished by core aerating. An application of fertilizer immediately after core aeration will also help restore your lawn.

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Things To Do After Aerating Your Lawn:

When to Aerate Your Lawn, Bayer Advanced, Web. Accessed Jan. 28, 2016

Day, Julie, Spring Lawn Care Guide, TodaysHomeowner.com, Web. Accessed Jan. 28, 2016

Fresenburg, Brad S. Spring Lawn Care Aeration, Fertility and Crabgrass Control, University of Missouri Integrated Pest Management, Web. March 15, 2012

Juror, Richard and Wallace, Greg, Properly Aerating Lawns, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Web. Aug. 12, 2015

Can You Walk On Lawn After Aeration

You cant walk on the lawn after aeration because the seeds and fertilizer need time to settle, and the soil could get too compact. Walking or mowing on a freshly-aerated lawn can prevent the seeds from sprouting and the soil from getting enough oxygen and nutrients.

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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.

Should I Cut My Grass Before I Aerate

Yes. Its a very good idea to mow your lawn before you aerate as it will allow the aerator to get as close as possible to the lawn for the best results.

Try using one of these awesome budget lawnmowers if you dont have a good one already.

You dont have to take it down too low if you dont want to so scalping it isnt necessary but just make sure its a nice, close trim so the aerator can get to work.

At the same time, you might want to take a good commercial weed eater around any difficult to reach areas, just to finish off the trimming job and give your lawn the treatment it deserves.

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Is It Hard Work To Aerate With A Fork

Honestly, aerating your lawn with a fork can be extremely hard work.

If you are not in good shape I would not recommend doing this method of lawn aeration.

So you have a small lawn that is maybe only 6-8 square meters then yeah its fine, get a pitchfork and get stuck into aerating your lawn. If you have a large lawn as I do and you are not in good shape like me, I definitely would not recommend using a fork for lawn aeration.

I have used the fork technique many times when I used to have a small lawn but now I have a rather large lawn and I did attempt to aerate it with a fork for the first time when I moved and I promised myself, never again.

I remember my thoughts after I had aerated a couple of meters and they were thoughts of pure dread at how much effort it was taking to slowly cover my rather large lawn in holes.

The effort it took was incredible and it really did use every ounce of energy I could muster to complete the task but that was just the beginning.

The days after I had exhausted myself by aerating my massive lawn with a fork was where the real pain occurred.

After aerating my lawn every muscle in my body ached for days and even muscles I never knew existed ached, also, my knees ached which must have been from stamping the fork in the ground, my back and neck also ached for days.

This is why I now recommend using a fork to aerate your lawn only if you have a small lawn and never if you have a large lawn.

How Long Should You Wait To Mow After Aerating

If youre overseeding the yard, mow first, aerate, then overseed, and apply mulch and fertilizers. When aerating and overseeding, its recommended to cut the yard a couple of notches lower than usual to expose the surface of the ground. Since you want the seeds to germinate before mowing again, the extra length in cut will extend the regrowth period and put off your next mow an extra week or two.

In general, waiting about 3 weeks after aerating and overseeding will give the seeds time to establish, though the time will vary based on germination rate per grass type. If youre not overseeding, you can keep to your regular mowing schedule.

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