Top Reasons to Aerate Your Lawn

Top Reasons to Aerate Your Lawn

The idea of core aeration for your lawn is an important one to be aware of, specifically in climates that suffer from both harsh heat in the summer and cold temperatures in the winter. These types of climates have specific impacts on soil, which, in turn, means that lawncare is made all that much more difficult. Weather and the elements throughout the year present enough challenges to contest with, so the best thing to do is offer your land the chance to thrive despite it all. This opportunity comes in the form of core aeration. Here are some reasons why.

Preventing Compacted Soil

Preventing Compacted SoilThe most difficult thing about maintaining a lawn in a tougher climate is that the soil can become hard, compacted, and covered in weeds with shallowyet tangled root systems. This can be prevented by aerating your soil at appropriate times throughout the year. It is important to aerate your lawn with the appropriate equipment as well. There are various tools with which to get the job done: hand tills, manual aerating rollers, and even piston-driven aerating. The type of tool should be based on the size of the lawn and how compacted it already is.

Allowing Infiltration of Water and Nutrients

The reason that compacted soil becomes so problematic is that typically pervious surfaces become nearly impervious, which essentially means that the door to all the things soil and plant life need to be healthy is sealed shut. The process of core aeration for your lawn is all about keeping that door open. An aerated lawn is not only able to take in adequate amounts of water, but it is also able to more efficiently receive nutrients from lawncare fertilizers and various types of decomposition. There are specific nutrients a healthy lawn requires, and core aeration allows the soil to take them in. 

When to Focus on Core Aeration

The question of when to aerate a lawn can be somewhat tricky depending on how a season has played out, but the general rule is that you want to aerate in the Fall before the harsh months of winter have a chance to harden the soil. By aerating in the Fall, the soil is able to take in the necessary water and nutrients to keep it from becoming too compacted and unhealthy during its wait for Spring. The good news is that, though Fall aeration is optimal, Spring is also an excellent time to aerate your lawn. Open that soil just in time for those April showers!

Core Aeration as Preparation for Watering

 Preparation for WateringA final consideration to keep in mind when aerating is to remember the purpose. You want water and nutrients to infiltrate into the soil. There is also the purpose of keeping competing weeds and root systems out of your lawn, but if a lawn is regularly aerated then these things shouldn’t become too much of an issue. Keeping this in mind, when planning to water a lawn it is a good idea to prepare the lawn with core aeration a few days beforehand. 

Article Submitted By Community Writer

Today's Top Articles:
Scroll to Top