All about Lawn Aerators and Aeration!
What is Lawn Aeration?
Aeration is the process of using a mechanical, liquid, or manual lawn aerator to aerate your lawn. Making holes in the surface of your lawn, allows deeper root growth and reduces soil compaction. A lawn aerator allows air, water, and nutrients direct access to the root
system. Not only does lawn aerating give you a better looking lawn, but it also thickens the turf and this promotes deeper root growth by
allowing the roots to expand on grow deeper into the soil.
Lawn Aeration holes hold water in them
which can soften hard soil and give clay soils more room for expansion. In addition, there are a few different types of lawn treatment that go well with aeration, these include thatching, fertilization, over seeding and liming.
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How often do I use an Lawn Aerator to Aerate lawn?
Most experts recommend you should aerate lawns
every 1-3 years. If you have hills, pets or active outdoor children
you may even need it twice a year. The best time to fertilize and over
seed is just after you aerate your lawn. For new lawns, turf aeration
is very important. Most developers scrape off the topsoil when they
build a new home and it can take years before that soil can be
naturally healthy again. The best way to make it healthy quickly is
with a lawn core aerator. Also, in many areas new lawns tend to be
installed on top of hard clay. A core lawn aerator can speed up the
process of soil integration by encouraging roots and grass growth. If
you have bad soil, you should aerate at least once a year for the first
five years you own a home. It is very effective to also fertilize and
over seed right after aerating. After a lawn is established most
experts still recommend that you aerate once every three years.
When to aerate my Lawn?
The best time to aerate your lawn is usually in April or in late September. For Spring Aeration the optimal window is March to the end of June. In the Fall it is September to October.The 'perfect time' to aerate a lawn may change according to location. If the ground is to soft, it may not be a good time. If the ground is too hard it may need to be watered for about an hour before hand to obtain the best results with a lawn aerator. Those that are aerated on a regular basis may produced better plugs. Lawn aeration can be done using a lawn aerator machine, aerator shoes, liquid aeration, a tow behind aerator, or a hand aerator.
Five benefits of Aerating a lawn
Their are many benefits of core aeration Core Aeration keeps your lawn greener, reducing the cost of watering by:
1) Improving drainage & reduce runoff
2) Reducing soil compaction
3) Controlling thatch development
4) Reducing drought damage
5)
Allowing water, air, and nutrients
direct access to the root system.
Lawn care tips:
Now that I have aerated my lawn, what's next?
Iron, Fertilizer and Over seeding are highly recommended.
Many fertilizer brands tell you how often to fertilize. (About 3-5 time per year). Most programs when followed tend to work very well. The very best time to fertilize is in the Spring and in the fall or when the grass is actively growing. The three main elements in fertilizer are Nitrogen (N), Potassium (K) and Phosphorous, These are comparable to Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen in humans. The three main elements are represented by the three numbers on the bag of fertilizer you buy in the store. Knowing this allows you to determine how strong the fertilizer is that you are using. Straight Urea has the numbers 46-0-0. This means it is very large in Nitrogen content, but lacks the 2 other essential nutrients. A good concentration for lawn fertilizer has 25-30 Nitrogen, 8-12 potassium and 6-10 phosphorous. (Weed and feed may not have any phosphorous because phosphorous strengthens weeds.) Remember the best time to fertilize is after you have used a lawn aerator to aerate your lawn!