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What To Do Before Aerating Lawn

Reasons To Hire A Professional

How To Aerate Your Lawn

Investing in professional lawn aeration presents a number of advantages, beyond freeing up your time for other activities.

Professional lawn care companies have the right equipment, allowing the job to be done quickly and correctly. Theres no need to buy or rent an aerator. Professionals have a better understanding of your lawns needs and will know the best time to aerate and overseed your lawn. Not only will they time the aeration correctly, but they will also apply the right balance of fertilizer and seed post-aeration to ensure the best grass possible. More peace of mind. Many lawn care companies will offer a guarantee of results and will keep working on your yard until you are satisfied. If you DIY, you may spend hundreds of dollars on supplies, only to be disappointed or frustrated by the results. Professionals will properly prep the lawn for aeration to ensure the best results.

As always, there are some pros and cons to hiring a professional. However, by the time you acquire the right equipment, you may spend about the same amount of cash either way.

If you dont have time to invest in aerating your lawn, contact TruGreen so you can have an envy-worthy lawn to make the neighbors turn their heads.


Can You Walk On The Lawn After Aeration

No, walking on the lawn after aeration is not recommended, especially if you have just sowed new grass seeds. Your lawn is fragile after aeration, and walking is one of the reasons it needed aeration in the first place.

I would suggest you wait about a month after aeration before walking on your lawn again.

When Lawns Need Aeration

It may not seem your lawn could get compacted, but it happens easier than you may think. Vehicles or small equipment driven on lawns are more obvious offenders, but even outdoor entertaining or yard play by kids and pets can leave all or part of your lawn compacted. If you live where heavy clay soil is the norm, annual aeration is probably needed to keep your lawn from becoming thin and weak.

Dethatching and aerating are two different tasks, but they often go hand in hand. Thatch is the layer of decomposing organic matter that forms right at the lawn surface, between soil and grass. When thatch gets more than 1/2 inch thick, it works like compaction to prevent the flow of air, water and nutrients grasses need. Aggressive spreading grasses, such as Kentucky bluegrassin northern lawns and Bermudagrass down south, form more thatch than many other grass types. Aeration helps penetrate and reduce thatch buildup or prep it for removal through dethatching.

If your grass often looks stressed and your soil is hard to the touch or rainwater puddles up where it used to be absorbed, you may have compaction problems. Confirm your suspicions with a simple “screwdriver test.” Take a regular screwdriver and stick it into your lawn’s soil by hand. It should slide in fairly easily. If you meet resistance, your soil is compacted, and aeration can help.


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Using A Lawn Aerator: Why How And When

Aerating your lawn can give it the extra help it needs to grow thicker and healthier. It improves drainage and helps relieve compaction in heavily trodden areas, allowing air and nutrients to penetrate the soil and encourage healthy growth.

Aside from basic care for your lawn, using a lawn aerator is a simple way of getting the best out of your garden lawn.

How To Aerate A Lawn

Should I aerate? Everything You Need To Know About When and Why To ...

There are a few things that you should take into consideration before aerating your lawn:

First, make sure that your lawn really needs aeration .


After that, you have to figure out what time of year is best for you to aerate your lawn .

Finally, you should decide whether you want to call a lawn maintenance service or do the aeration yourself .

Lets get started!

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Continue With A Lawn Care Program

The whole point of aerating and overseeding your lawn in the first place is to restore its health and beauty. Be sure that your lawn care professional continues with a proactive plan to continually fertilize and control damaging weeds and insects.


If youre choosing to have overseeding completed, your lawn care professional can explain any upcoming lawn care program changes as they may relate to your developing, young grass plants.

What To Do After Aerating Lawn: 7 Useful Tips And Tricks

Having the best lawn in the neighborhood isnt the easiest thing to achieve, but its certainly possible!

One of the most essential steps of lawn care that is often skipped, is aeration. Aerating your lawn is not an easy job, but it definitely pays off!

Aeration allows the air to reach the grass roots and also improves nutrient and water absorption. After aeration, your lawn is damaged in a way because there are small holes all over it, but there are a few tips and tricks on what to do after aerating lawn so you can benefit more from aeration.

Whether you decide to call a lawn maintenance service and let them do the job, or you want to take matters into your own hands, read on to learn lots of tips and tricks to help you have the lushest and most vibrant lawn ever!


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Ask About Grass Seed Quality

While youre having a conversation about aeration, ask your lawn care company about the quality of grass seed they use. Seed blends can have an impact on the pricing of this service as some companies may cut corners. However, a good lawn care company should be using a premium mix of Turf Type Tall Fescue in order to give you optimum results.

Can Dethatching Hurt Your Lawn

Aerating Your Lawn – Why, When and How

Dethatching causes a lot of damage to your grass and should be done at a time when the grass is growing so it can fix the damage before the next dormant period. Warm-season grass can be dethatched in late spring or early summer after it starts to grow. It is best not to do it in the middle or late of summer.

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How To Dethatch Your Lawn

  • Tackle small lawns with a dethatching rake, and rent a dethatcher for larger lawns
  • Mow your lawn to half its normal height before you begin dethatching.
  • Use a dethatching rake like you would a regular rake. Dig the tines into the thatch and pull it upward, helping to loosen and remove the buildup. While you rake, you should feel and see the thatch separating from the soil.
  • If youre planning to rent a dethatcher, mark any shallow irrigation lines, sprinkler heads, or buried utility lines before starting. This is no time for surprises!
  • Ask the rental agency to adjust the spacing and cutting depth for your grass type. The blades should be set to cut no deeper than ½ inch into the soil. Make sure to get directions for how to use the dethatcher, and follow all of them carefully. A dethatcher is heavy, so ask for help loading and unloading it, and know that youll need a truck to move it.
  • After dethatching, your lawn will look ragged. Use a leaf rake to get rid of the thatch you loosened up.
  • If bare spots were created by dethatching, use a patching product, like Scotts® EZ Seed®, to repair them.
  • Now you can feed the rest of your grass. Once thats wrapped, water your entire lawn to help it recover from all of the poking and prodding.
  • Does Grass Seed Need To Be Watered Daily

    Normally a lawn should be watered deeply but infrequently, but when you are watering for new grass seed, you must water every day. … Twice daily watering is essential until the new grass is up, then after one more week, reduce to once per day. Adjust this pattern according to season and temperature demands.


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    Should You Top Dress After Aeration

    Top dressing is a good idea, especially if you have areas that have eroded or sunken over the last year. … After aerating, it’s time for top dressing: spread either pulverized top soil or a good quality humus compost across the lawn. You don’t need muchabout a quarter inch or so is adequate. Then, go ahead and reseed.

    When Do You Need To Aerate Your Lawn

    HYDRO MOUSSE

    Ideally, the best time for lawn aeration in the UK is either in autumn or spring. This is when the soil is mostly likely to be naturally moist and it is suitable for the holes to be set effectively.

    Ideally you would aerate in the spring when it is just coming into growing season for the grass, as this gives the grass the opportunity to heal properly. Keep in mind that the weather in the UK varies a great deal and aeration is very condition dependent. If it is too wet then the holes will not let water and air through as the sides of the holes will seal up. When it comes to frequency of lawn aeration it is dependent on the lawn.

    New lawns should be aerated more often as they have a less matured root system and aerating helps this develop and grow. We would recommend you aerate a new lawn twice a year for non-established lawn. Those with hard or clay soil should be aerated once a year as they have more difficulty getting air and water to the roots. For all other types of soil and lawn you should aerate at least every 3 years, but more frequent if the grass is looking unhealthy or not growing well.


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    Aeration Doesnt Have To Be Costly

    Especially, if you have a smaller lawn, you can aerate it yourself. While not as effective as a core aerator, some people just use a spading fork to plunge holes into the soil. Buying or renting a coring aerator is another way to go. If you do buy one, it can be a good idea to go in on it with a friend, as neither of you will use be using it nearly as often as a mower or other lawn equipment.

    What To Do After Aerating A Lawn In Fall

    Aeration in the early fall is the best option if you want to overseed your lawn and have that seed sprout and establish itself in the same year. This can be done in warm and cold climates, provided it is early fall. In late fall, you can still aerate but you should wait to overseed until temperatures are regularly below 35F to prevent the seeds from germinating.

    About Tom Greene

    I’ve always had a keen interest in lawn care as long as I can remember. Friends used to call me the “lawn mower guru” , but I’m anything but. I just enjoy cutting my lawn and spending time outdoors. I also love the well-deserved doughnuts and coffee afterward!

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    Can You Overseed Without Aerating

    To overseed a lawn without aerating, start by mowing it lower than 2 inches and follow it up with raking to remove debris and loosen up the topsoil. Spread the grass seed and then rake over it gently. Fertilize with a starter fertilizer and then water the lawn lightly until the grass grows to a good mowing height.

    Allow Your Lawn To Rest

    AFTER Lawn Aeration Do THIS

    After aerating, you should give your lawn time to recover. This means waiting to mow your lawn until it needs it. In most cases, this means allowing your lawn to grow up to a height of 3.5 temporarily. Traffic on the lawn should also be minimized for a week or two, if possible, to prevent compaction.

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    Should I Rake Leaves Before Aerating

    Do not cut the leaves. Seedlings have shallow roots and are delicate. The best way to remove leaves is to blow them up or mulch them. The amount of water you give them depends on the type of soil they are growing in. If the soil is sandy or clay-like, then you will need more water than if it is well-drained and has a lot of organic matter in it.

    For example, if you have a sandy soil, you may need to water your seedling twice a week to keep it from getting too dry. On the other hand, a well drained soil will not need any water at all, so you can give it as much or as little water as you like. You may also want to check your soil regularly to make sure that it has not been over-drought-tolerant.

    Ignoring The Lawn After Aeration And Overseeding

    This seems like a no brainer, but youd be surprised how many people go through the task of aerating and overseeding and then simply dont follow-through with watering their lawn in the weeks following.

    Unfortunately, those seeds you planted are not magical. They wont grow overnight, and they wont grow without consistent water.

    The good news is simply ensuring the soil covering the seeds is kept moist is a good start for driving growth. If you do that and nothing else, youll probably get good results.

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    Benefits Of Lawn Aeration

    Aeration is particularly useful for lawns that undergo a lot of foot traffic. The more a lawn is used, the more compacted the soil becomes.

    This significantly reduces the spaces in the soil that would typically hold air.

    Due to the decreased flow of air within the soil, compaction can negatively affect root growth. Roots need oxygen from the air to grow and absorb water and nutrients.

    Pick The Right Time Of Year For Your Aeration To Have Maximum Effect

    Steps To Take Before Aerating A Lawn

    Aerating at the right point in time depends on the type of grass you have on your lawn. If you live in a climate where cool season grasses are planted, then you’ll want to aerate in late summer or in the fall, when these grasses have weathered the worst summer heat and are growing with a steady supply of moisture. If you are using warm-season grasses , it is best to aerate during the late spring or early summer. Again, this is the time these grasses are growing most steadily.

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    Garden Knowledge: Scarifying Your Lawn Aerating Your Lawn

    Regular, long-term care is critical to maintaining an attractive lawn. But mowing alone isnt always enough. By scarifying and aerating your lawn, you can help improve the uptake of water, oxygen and nutrients. We recommend doing both several times a year. Well explain what tools work best and show you exactly how to get the job done.

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    The prospect of scarifying and aerating your lawn may sound complex and daunting at first but in reality, its not hard at all. It is important to scarify and aerate your lawn in the fall, as this loosens up the turf, allowing the grass to breathe better and regenerate. This process improves the uptake of water, oxygen and nutrients. Whats the difference between aerating and scarifying?

    A lawn aerator is equipped with minute steel tines attached to a drum . These tines poke small holes in the earth which help to loosen the turf. Aeration can prevent the grass from becoming thick and tangled. For that reason, we recommend aerating your lawn several times a year.

    Scarification is a more intensive type of aeration. A lawn scarifier is used to score the turf by means of tiny steel blades. This process also removes weeds, moss and thatch. However, it does not damage the roots of the grass. Scarification should be carried out twice a year.

    But before you begin aerating and scarifying your lawn, make sure to mow it to a length of about 4 cm. You can review everything you need to know about mowing your lawn here.

    How Low Should You Cut Grass Before Aeration

    Theres a lot that goes into maintaining a lush, green lawn. While mowing, watering, and fertilizing are the most obvious steps, its important to consider additional ways to keep your lawn as healthy as possible, like aeration.

    In this article, well walk you through the process of aerating your lawn, including how low to cut grass before aeration. Well also discuss some of the benefits that aeration can provide for your lawn.

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    When Is The Best Time Of Year To Aerate

    Timing is everything when it comes to aeration. If you get aeration-happy at the wrong time, you could end up severely harming your lawn instead of helping it grow. To time it properly, you need to consider both the season and the weather conditions.

    Your season will be determined by the type of grass you have: you want to aerate at the beginning of the peak growing season. This will help your lawn quickly recover from the temporary damage aeration causes and promote maximum growth of the root system. If the grass is still completely brown, it is not the time to aerate! The grass should be greening first. For cool season turf like fescue, bluegrasses, and ryegrass, aerate in the fall. Much of the turf in Colorado Springs is cool season. For warm-season turf like Bermuda, Buffalo, and St. Augustine, the time to aerate is in late spring or early summer.

    Weather conditions also must be right for aeration. Aeration does cause some root damage, so you need to avoid dry periods, heat waves, and cold snaps to avoid further stressing your lawn. While the soil should be moist, aeration also should not be done when it is overly soaked, or the soil will clump together and not be aerated properly.


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