Table of Contents
What is Aeration?
Aeration is the process of making microscopic holes in the soil to allow air, water, and nutrients to reach the grassroots. This encourages the roots to grow deeper, resulting in a healthier, more vibrant lawn.
The primary goal of aeration is to reduce soil compaction. Compacted soils contain:
- An excessive number of solid particles in a given volume of space.
- Preventing appropriate air.
- Water.
- Nutrient movement within the soil.
Excess lawn thatch and heavy organic material buried underneath the grass surface might deprive the roots of these vital nutrients.
When to Aerate Your Lawn?
Aeration is best done during the growing season when the grass can repair and fill in any open areas left by removing soil plugs. If possible, aerate lawns with cool-season grass in the early spring or fall and those with warm-season grass in the late spring.
Aerating Tools
A spike aerator and a plug aerator are the two most common aerating tools. With a spike aerator, you use a firm tine or fork to puncture holes into the earth. A plug aerator is a lawn aerator that removes a core or plug of grass and soil. Use an aerating tool or equipment that removes dirt plugs for the most outstanding results. Poking holes in the ground are ineffective and might promote more compaction in the area around the hive.
How to Aerate Your Yard
Make sure the soil is sufficiently moist before you begin. There’s nothing more annoying than attempting to aerate dry soil. It’s best to aerate the day after a rain shower or water your lawn the day before. Make numerous passes over the most compacted regions because most aeration devices only reach a small fraction of the soil surface per pass. Leave untouched places alone to save resources (and your energy). Allow the dug soil plugs to dry before breaking them up to give your lawn a uniform, clean appearance. Run a lawnmower over them or pound them with the back of a rake to break them up. Allow the dug soil plugs to dry before breaking them up to give your lawn a uniform, clean appearance. Run a lawnmower over them or pound them with the back of a rake to break them up. (After breaking up the plugs, your lawnmower blade may need to be sharpened.) A common misconception about aeration is that if you apply a pre-emergent herbicide to your lawn in the spring, aerating it will remove the herbicide “barrier.” This is not the case; studies demonstrate that aeration has no impact on crabgrass control or weed prevention. Following aeration, routine lawn care procedures such as fertilizer, mowing, and watering should be continued.
Why aerating helps lawns
Grassroots need nutrients, air, and water to grow deep, thick, and strong. When soil becomes compacted, even slightly, it inhibits the flowing of the essentials that support thicker and healthier turf growth. A layering of compacted soil just 1/4 – 1/2 inches thick makes a significant difference in the health and beauty of an individual’s lawn. Aeration creates small holes down into the soil to alleviate compaction so that air, water, and nutrients can reach the grassroots. Deprived of their essential needs by compacted soil, lawn grasses struggle in stressful situations, such as heat and low rainfall, and lose their healthy, rich color. Grasses are 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.
Types of aerator
Before you start working in the garden, you should think about the various techniques of aeration. Each approach is suitable for a different level of grass severity and size.
Solid tine aerator
The act of punching solid holes into the lawn is also known as spike tine aeration. Solid tines are helpful for all types of general aeration and can be accomplished with various low-cost instruments. The only disadvantage to this procedure is that it may produce compaction in the sides of the hole created by the spike.
Hollow tine lawn aerator
Hollow tines extract the compacted soil through tubes pressed into the turf. The act of removing cores from the soil is intended for lawns that have been severely compacted and are generally regarded as a good idea.
How to aerate your lawn
Preparing your lawn– Before aerating the lawn, many things can be done to ensure that the aeration is as adequate as possible. Firstly, you should cut down the grasses of the lawn low the day before and scarify your lawn if it is in particular need of work. It may sometimes help to re-cutting the grasses of the lawn after scarification to clear any resulting debris. It is also recommended to water the grass the day before if the soil is dry and there are no rain showers likely to help with moistening the soil for aeration.
Reasons of lawn need aerating-
1. Children and cats roaming around the yard put a lot of wear and tear on your lawn.
2. When there is an extended period of dryness and drought.
3. It was planted as part of a new residence, as the topsoil of new lawns is frequently scraped or buried, and the grass established beneath the subsoil is compacted by construction activity.
4. It dries quickly and has a spongy texture underfoot. This is most likely due to an enormous thatch problem in your grass. Aeration is recommended if the layer of thatch is more significant than 1.5cm thick.
5. Soil layering occurs when finer-textured soil – which comes with the new grass – is laid over the previous coarser soil in a newly formed lawn.
When is the best time to aerate?
During the budding season, the best time for aeration is when the grass can heal and fill in any open areas after soil plugs are removed. Soil plugs are 5cm chunks of turf that may be removed from the lawn when you aerate. This is not a problem. Ideally, aeration of the lawn when the season is cold in the early spring or autumn and when the season is hot in the late spring.
Conclusion
So how often should you aerate your lawn?- The answer is once per year.