The Benefits of Lawn Aeration

Most, if not all lawn problems can be traced back to poor soil conditions including compacted, heavy clay content, poor water penetration and shallow root systems. One of the best ways to fix these issues with your lawn is to aerate twice a year; once in the spring and again in the fall. Aerating twice a year will begin to break up heavy clay soils, reduce lawn thatch, allow water, air and nutrients to get down to the roots, help build stronger root and make your lawn more disease resistant. 

Core aeration or “plugging” as it’s often called, uses a machine to extract a plug from your lawn, leaving the remains on top of the grass as it goes. You can leave these cores in place. They will break down over time. If they bother you, rake them up and toss them in the compost pile. Core aeration should not be confused with power raking. Sometimes called dethatching, power raking removes the material that builds up on top of the soil. It does nothing to help build the soil your grass is growing in. Power raking can be destructive and should not be employed where lawns are thin, weak or under stress. 

Core aeration is usually done with a machine such as this one. You can rent one and do it yourself or hire someone to core aerate your lawn. 

For small lawns, consider a hand aerator such as this one. It’s a handy tool to have for spot treating chronically compacted areas. Once the lawn has been aerated, the next step is to work on improving the soil your grass is growing in. 

You can do this by adding a humate-based soil conditioner such as HuMic every six weeks. Top dressing your lawn with peat moss or compost two to three times a year will also improve soil structure and reduce clay content. 

Regular aeration will go a long way toward building a healthier, stronger lawn; one that is naturally more weed and disease resistant.