A lawn aerator is a popular garden tool designed to create holes in the Soil to help lawn grasses grow. In compacted lawns, aeration helps in improving the soil drainage and encourages worms, microfauna, and microflora which require oxygen. Aerators can be practice once a year in the fall (September or October, and sometimes even in November) if you have cool-weather grass-like fescue that grows vertically. After a long and hot summer, your lawn can likely use some TLC, and the warm days and cool nights of fall provide a perfect environment for rehabilitation. Lawn aerators are particularly helpful in dense, compacted soil, and in areas of the lawn, they receive a lot of foot traffic.
Signs You Need To Aerate the Lawn-
· When you see water puddling on the lawn after rain.
· When your vehicles are driving or parking on the lawn.
· A half-inch thick covering of thatch.
· Sticking a screwdriver or a pencil into the earth is problematic.
· Soil that is heavy in clay
· Grass that is thin, sparse, or barren.
· Lawns with dense Clover stands
· If your yard has never been mowed before
Due to pressure, weight, and gravity, the Soil in your lawn can get compacted over time. This might harden the surface, compressing and suffocating the roots. A comprehensive aeration treatment from a professional landscaper will help you avoid this. You can remove little lumps of Soil from the surface and enable the rest of it to breathe using this method. Aeration relieves strain on the Soil and loosens it, allowing grass roots to grow and spread.
Benefits of aerating a lawn
· It helps to remove mild thatch.
· This technique helps the roots to grow properly and deeper.
· The technique makes the lawn more vigorous and drought resistant.
· Through this, it can reduce the compaction of the lawn soil.
· It may allow the air to exchange between the Soil and atmosphere.
· It helps to improve the penetration of water into the Soil.
· The aeration makes a uniform distribution of fertilizer and nutrients.
· It improves the root system of lawn grass.
· It increases the breakdown of thatch problem.
· It protects Soil from surface runoff by over water.
· It loosens the Soil from compaction.
· It also makes strengthen turfgrass roots.
· It tries to enhance the heat and drought stress tolerance of your lawn.
Some best Aerators
- Yard Butler Lawn Aerator- ( check price and availability from online shopping sites)
Features:
a. It is extremely Affordable.
b. It is based on Manual Step Aeration.
c. It is good for Small Spaces. - Agri-Fab 48-Inch Tow Plug Aerator- ( check price and availability from online shopping sites)
Features:
a. 48″ Wide Aeration Path
b. It is a Plug-Style Aerator
c. It is Good for Large Lawns - GreenWorks 14″ Corded Dethatcher- ( check price and availability from online shopping sites)
Features:
a. 14″ Dethatching Path
b. Power Rake Style
c. Suitable for Dethatching, Not Aerating - Yard Butler Lawn Coring Aerator – ( check price and availability from online shopping sites)
Features:
a. Handheld manual operation.
b. Ideal for small yards.
c. Removes four half-inch-wide plug cores, with a cutting depth of 3-1/2-inches.
d. Foot bar for added leverage.
e. Durable construction built to last.
f. Affordable. - Brinly PA-40BH Tow-Behind Plug Aerator- ( check price and availability from online shopping sites)
Features:
a. Relieve and aerate compacted soil in your lawn
b. 24 x heat-treated, 16-gauge stainless steel plugging spoons
c. 3-inch cutting depth
d. Durable design and construction
, e. Easy to move
f. Universal tow hitch
g. Simple assembly and easy maintenance - Lawn Aerator Spike Shoes- ( check price and availability from online shopping sites)
Features:
a. Easy to use aeration system for use when mowing your lawn
b. Inexpensive alternative
c. Easy to fit your gardening shoe
d. Satisfaction guarantee
Lawn Aerator Buyers Guide
Why do you want/need to aerate your lawn? That is a common question for beginner gardeners. Over time, the Soil in your Grass becomes compacted. Heavy rains, foot traffic, and a variety of other factors cause the Soil to compact. Eventually, the compaction becomes so severe that air cannot penetrate the ground. Grass, like any other plant, requires a constant supply of fresh air to its roots to survive. The Grass tends to die back if the roots don’t get enough air, resulting in thinner lawns with barren areas. You loosen the Soil by aerating your lawn, allowing air to penetrate the Soil’s top and reach the plant roots. Aeration also allows water and minerals to reach the ground, giving your lawn a nutritional boost that encourages development.
When is the most appropriate time to aerate your lawn?
If you perform the above lawn test and discover that your Grass is in serious need of dethatching and aeration, it’s time to act. When the growing season is well begun, experts advocate aerating. When you aerate your lawn when it’s overgrowing, you reduce the damage you do to the turf’s roots during dethatching and aeration. As a result, your lawn recovers fast from aeration stress. If you have a lawn with cool-seasonal grasses, aeration should be done in the early spring. If your lawn is made up of warm-season Grass, aerate it in the late spring for the best effects.
Lawn Aerator Vs. Scarifier- A lawn scarifier is commonly known as a ‘dethatcher’; it is a garden tool designed to cut through the Soil, which helps to remove dead moss and other debris like grass cuttings. The cutting action of the tool is operated by either power or by electricity or a manual push action, and it also helps to aerate the soil, making it healthier, weed-free, and longer-lasting. It cuts through the topsoil and breaks up the thatch. As it makes its way across the lawn, it digs into the Soil with sharp metal tines. This processing aerates and loosens the soil, making it healthier and better able to grow seed. Scarifying also gets rid of moss and, as a bonus, removes most of any lurking weeds. Although similar to a cultivator, a scarifier digs more deeply into the soil, making it a very different tool. On the other hand, lawn aerators are the tool for the garden by which we can cut our Grass easily.
What are the Results Can You Expect from Aerating Your Lawn?
The plugs form deposits in a regular configuration of lines throughout your lawn after completing the first round of aeration. A squadron of trained moles appears to have dived through the Grass, leaving miniature molehills in its wake. Each watering session assimilates this Soil into the Grass, and it disappears entirely in a few days to a week. Examine the insides of the aeration plugs after 7 to 10 days. White roots should be visible at the base of the plugs. That’s a good sign that the aeration went well, and your lawn is benefiting from it. You’ll also notice that your lawn’s water retention improves with each watering, and there’s less pooling after a storm. As a result, the Grass absorbs more water, turning thick and lush.