How Do I Get The Best Results
The results you get after aeration depend on how you do it. It requires pre-preparation and post-aeration care to get the best outcomes. Therefore, mark the spots with underground sprinkler heads before aerating the soil. Remove leaves and debris and mow the lawn about a day before aeration. After aeration, ensure you water your lawn regularly. You should also ensure the lawn is not experiencing high foot traffic. This gives the seeds a peaceful time for germinating and growing. Keep mowing until you notice the seeds have germinated. You can then wait for them to grow before you can mow again.
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.
How Often Should You Aerate Your Lawn
For healthy lawns, aeration should be done once a year. If soil compaction and thatch buildup occur frequently on your lawn, it is best to aerate it twice a year.
Some home-owners recommend aerating lawns on an as-needed basis. For instance, if you notice signs such as thinning of grass or worn areas, or puddles, it is time to aerate your lawn.
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What Do You Do After You Aerate Your Lawn
Leave the soil plugs on the lawn to decompose and filter back into the holes left by the aeration machine. Your lawn mower will often break them up and help work them back into the soil within two to three weeks. Apply fertilizer immediately after aerating your lawn to put nutrients into your grass roots.
Fall Aeration And Overseeding
We recommend aeration in late summer and overseeding in the fall before the turf becomes dormant in the winter months. This is because here in Maryland and Northern Virginia, the soil stays warm into November, meaning the roots will continue to grow. Aerating your grass in the fall revitalizes it before dormancy, making new seedlings better equipped to handle chilly winters and setting your lawn up to thrive when next spring arrives!
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How Often Do You Need To Aerate
Many professionals, including tree experts Davey, recommend annual aeration. How often typically depends on the type of soil. Hard soils, like clay, become compacted easily, and that can make it hard for air to penetrate into the grass. If your soil is looser and contains more sand, you may not need to aerate as often because water can easily get into the soil.
Keep in mind that it is possible to over aerate. Remember, aeration is taxing on your lawn and requires a period of recovery. As a result, you don’t want to do this so often that the grass doesn’t have time to recover. If you have average soil that’s rather loose, aerating every two to three years may be sufficient. If you’re unsure about the frequency of your lawn’s needs, you may need to ask your local lawn care pro to take a look at your soil and overall lawn health to determine if more frequent aerating is necessary.
When Is The Best Season To Aerate In Cedar Rapids & Iowa City
Before you go and buy yourself a lawn aerator or hire someone to come out, you should know that there are better times to aerate your lawn than others. While the long-term effects of aeration are beneficial for your lawn, it is also stressful to the plants if not done a the right time. We want to target the times of the year when the lawn is healthy and growing. In Iowa , we have cool season grasses. So spring and fall are the best times to both aerate and seed your lawn.
Now that its narrowed down to the season, the other huge factor is the weather. We know how unpredictable Iowa weather can be and it has an impact on when your lawn entering its growing stage. Because we tailor our lawn care program to take advantage of the weather conditions, we have found that these ideal times present themselves in the spring and late summer/fall for Cedar Rapids & Iowa City.
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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.
Should I Aerate Before Leveling
Re: Mechanically Aerate BEFORE Level? Yes but if you leave them, they’ll break down and eventually your soil will be exactly the same as it was before aeration. Removing and filling will sand will allow the aeration to be a more permanent solution for water and nutrient infiltration deeper into the root zone.
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How To Aerate Your Lawn
You can aerate your lawn in two ways.
First, simply puncture the soil surface to allow water and nutrients penetration. You can use a simple spiking tool for this purpose.
Second, core aeration is used for the thick thatch layer. It involves breaking the compact soil layer and anything that is causing hindrance. The spiking tool is not enough for core aeration. Youve to use a lawn aerator to remove hard things and loosen the soil. These aerators are also available for rent.
To get the best results of aeration, follow these steps:
Before aeration, mow your lawn.
Water the lawn at least 2-3 days before aeration.
Make sure the soil is dry if youre aerating after a rainfall.
Aerate the lawn with a lawn plug aerator.
Aerate in two different directions.
After the aeration, water the lawn immediately. Itll help your lawn to get out of the stress of aeration.
What Should I Do Before And After Aerating My Lawn
What to Do After Aerating Your Lawn
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Spike Aerators For Your Lawn
Spike aerators put holes into the soil with an actual spike.
Some people use special aeration shoes that have spikes on the bottom to aerate their lawns. While cheap, these arent the best tool for the job. If possible, it is better to use actual spike aeration machinery.
Others just use a pitchfork or manure fork to push some holes into the ground. This can be a quick and easy way to aerate a section of your lawn that is particularly high-traffic. I will sometimes do this on areas near my front walkway where kids and visitors frequently take a shortcut across my lawn.
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Reasons To Hire A Professional
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.
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Aeration: Why How & When To Aerate Your Lawn
In order to achieve and maintain a beautiful lawn, you should employ basic lawn care practices such as properly mowing, fertilizing and watering. It is also important to ensure that nutrients can reach the soil beneath your grass. Aeration can be an extremely vital element to a healthy lawn because it allows air and water to penetrate built-up grass or lawn thatch.
Get rid of thatch and make way for a beautiful lawn with this quick guide to aeration. Youll learn why, how and when to aerate your lawn for the best results.
Enjoy An Amazing Lawn Without Lifting A Finger
Your lawn gives you so much from perfect sunrises with coffee to memories of your kids laughing and playing. Make sure it always looks gorgeous by performing regular aeration and overseeding. Contact our professionals at Lush Lawn for expert advice and assistance in keeping your lawn healthy all year long. We take care of everything so you only have to worry about relaxing and enjoying the view.
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Commonly Asked Questions About Lawn Aeration
As the summer season winds up, you may get displeased with the look of your yard. The summer heat and foot traffic after the numerous barbeque parties in the yard may have killed your healthy grass. Now it is time to restore its beautiful look. One way of doing that is through aeration to ensure the grass gets enough water, nutrients, and air. Aeration can help rejuvenate your lawn after the summer humidity and high traffic. It helps ensure the fertilizer, water, and air reach the soil and the roots for a perfect lawn. Here are common questions that many people ask about aeration.
Complete Lawn Aeration Equipment Guide
Whether you live in the scorching heat or the freezing cold, your lawn can become spotty and brown without the proper maintenance it requires. One method to help your grass grow stronger and healthier is aeration. Like any other plant, grass roots need oxygen. Over time, thanks to foot traffic, rain and snow, and gravity, the soil around the roots of grass can become compacted, limiting the amount of air reaching the roots. The result? A less than healthy-looking lawn, to say the least.
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Which Method Should You Choose
Aerators which remove plugs of soil are the most effective, according to most lawn care and turf experts.
This is definitely what I have found.
That said, the efficacy really depends on your lots type of soil. Also, consider the size of the lot youre going to be aerating when choosing a tool and method for lawn aeration.
Poking methods can be less effective due to causing additional compaction around where you place the holes.
I recommend that you use an aeration tool that pulls soil plugs at least 2-3 inches deep. These should also be no larger than 1 inch in diameter and no farther than 4 inches apart for best results.
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Why And When You Should Aerate Your Lawn
Kelly Burke is a professional turf manager for a manicured corporate campus in New England. He is accredited in organic land care and is a licensed pesticide applicator. He formerly managed the turfgrass as a golf course superintendent and has held several senior management positions at private country clubs overseeing high maintenance lawns.
Aeration is a lawn care practice designed to create openings in lawn turf and the underlying soil structure in order to penetrate the root and thatch layer and allow essential water and air down into the soil where it can better reach the grassroots. The process is usually called “core aeration” after the practice of punching small plugs, or cores, into the lawn. Usually, the practice is done with a motorized machine that can be rented, though there are also hand tools that can be used and which may be practical on very small lawns. Lawn care companies also offer aeration among their repertoire of services.
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Should You Seed After Aerating Lawn
Within 48 hours after you aerate you should over seed, fertilize, and water your lawn. The seed, fertilizer, and water will have the best chance to get down into the holes made by the aerator if applied soon after aeration. … If the fertilizer contains weed control, your grass seed won’t germinate properly.
What Is The Best Month To Aerate Your Northeastern Lawn
Plan to aerate your lawn between late-August and early-September if you are living in the northeast. This lines up perfectly with cooling temperatures that trigger a growth spurt for your lawn. This timing helps your grass recover quickly from the stress of aeration and sends deep roots into loose soil in preparation for winter.
- Aerate from August 20September 10 for best results.
- Cool-season grass typically begins its fall growth spurt in September. Aerate right before this growth spurt to get the most benefit.
- Avoid aerating in mid- to late-fall . Doing so can damage grass roots and expose them to cold winter temperatures before they have a chance to recover.
If you miss your aeration window, dont aerate in October or later. Aeration exposes grass roots to air. A sudden cold snap before your grass recovers can damage roots and slow your lawns recovery. Make sure to give your lawn ample time to fill in before winter arrives.
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Why Spring Is Not The Best Time To Overseed And Aerate
People often want to know when the best time to overseed is, and they often assume its the spring.
On the surface, that makes plenty of sense. Spring has always been a symbol of renewal because its a time that dormant growth revives and new growth flourishes.
Its certainly true that spring is a good time for grass to grow. Warm weather is returning, and several months of growing time lie ahead. There are some challenges though, and they can quickly lay waste to your time, effort, and money.
Early spring is a great time for new grass because of the factors we just mentioned, but those same factors are also conditions that favor weed growth. If you overseed in spots that are already thick and strong, this is less of a problem, but weak areas left from winter or the previous fall are at risk. When weeds overtake a struggling spot thats just been overseeded, they then have the potential to spread to other areas, causing even more unsightliness and more damage.
For some people, the solution to this is to use a pre-emergent herbicide treatment to prevent new weed growth from appearing, but the problem with that is pretty apparent: theres a good chance youre going to also kill the new growth that you want, and then you have to start all over again.
That something is summer.
Get Your Late Summer Lawn Care Needs Covered With Aatb
Now that you know when to aerate lawn and overseed in Iowa, schedule your lawn care for late summer, which is the time for several other important lawn care chores too. Trust All American Turf Beauty to expertly shoulder all your late summer lawn care responsibilities so that your lawn thrives in the spring next year and year-round.
Let our lawn care specialists recommend the best time to aerate and overseed your lawn as well as determine the right treatments for your lawn and implement them successfully. Request a consultation with one of our lawn care professionals today!
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