The Benefits Of Lawn Aeration Useful Tips For Aerating Your Lawn

Why Aerating Helps Lawns 1 Aeration creates holes down into the soil to alleviate compaction so air, water and nutrients can reach grass roots. Deprived of their basic needs by compacted soil, lawn grasses struggle in stressful situations, such as heat and low rainfall, and lose their healthy, rich color.

What are the benefits of aeration?
What is the best way to aerate your lawn?
How long does it take for aeration to work?
When should you use a lawn aerator?
Is there a bad time to aerate your lawn?
Should I pick up plugs after aerating?
Can you aerate too much?
Can I use a pitchfork to aerate your lawn?
Do aerating shoes really work?
How Much Should lawn aeration cost?
How do I treat my lawn after aerating?
How often can you use liquid aeration?

What are the benefits of aeration?

What Are The Benefits Of Aeration?

Improved air exchange between the soil and atmosphere.
Enhanced soil water uptake.
Improved fertilizer uptake and use.
Reduced water runoff and puddling.
Stronger turfgrass roots.
Reduced soil compaction.
Enhanced heat and drought stress tolerance.
Improved resiliency and cushioning.

What is the best way to aerate your lawn?

Peiffer says the best aerating machines are those with hollow, metal tines that penetrate the ground and pull plugs of soil from the lawn. You can help the tines penetrate deeper by watering your lawn one to two days prior to areating. Apply about an inch of water to the grass.

How long does it take for aeration to work?

While aeration itself can take just a couple of hours, depending on the size of your commercial property, plugs typically break down in about two weeks.

When should you use a lawn aerator?

The best time for aeration is during the growing season, when the grass can heal and fill in any open areas after soil plugs are removed. Ideally, aerate the lawn with cool season grass in the early spring or fall and those with warm season grass in the late spring.

Is there a bad time to aerate your lawn?

When to Aerate Your Lawn

Aeration is good for lawns, but it can stress grass if timed improperly. Never aerate dormant lawns. For cool-season grasses common in northern lawns, early fall or early spring are the best times for aerating.

Should I pick up plugs after aerating?

Aerating your lawn helps improve drainage and gives the roots room to spread out to ensure a healthier, fuller appearance. You don't have to rake the plugs left by aerating, but doing so gets nutrients back into the soil faster.

Can you aerate too much?

How often to aerate? The common advice here is once every one to three years. ... Especially thick types of grass may also call for aerating more frequently. As a general rule, you shouldn't need to aerate more than once a year at any time ("too much of a good thing" applies here, since you don't want to damage your soil).

Can I use a pitchfork to aerate your lawn?

You can aerate a lawn with many different tools. The most inexpensive way is with a pitchfork or spading fork. This tool is most useful for aerating smaller areas. Simply punch holes as deep as possible in the turf layer and then rock the fork to enlarge the holes.

Do aerating shoes really work?

Myth No.

While you can buy spiked shoes touted for aerating lawns you won't achieve much aeration using them. Spiked shoes don't work because they impact too small an area and further compact already compacted soil. University studies have shown you can use spiked shoes to kill Grubs.

How Much Should lawn aeration cost?

The cost to aerate your lawn by hiring a lawn care company is about $15 to $17 per thousand square feet. The average lawn size is about ten thousand square feet, making the average aeration cost around $150. It will take a lawn care company about 30 minutes to aerate a ten thousand square foot lawn.

How do I treat my lawn after aerating?

What to Do After Aerating Your Lawn

Leave the soil plugs on the lawn to decompose and filter back into the holes left by the aeration machine. ...
Apply fertilizer immediately after aerating your lawn to put nutrients into your grass roots. ...
Reseed your lawn, especially in areas of the lawn where the grass is thin.

How often can you use liquid aeration?

Apply every 2-3 months for general maintenance. Apply spring and fall once soil has improved to your satisfaction. READY-TO-USE (RTU) AERIFY! in a Refillable Spray BottleSimply attach this sprayer to your garden hose and you are ready to go. One bottle covers 5-10,000 square feet of lawn or garden.