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 mowing properly, fertilization and watering. It is also important to make sure that nutrients can reach the ground under the grass. Aeration can be a vital element for a healthy lawn because it allows air and water to penetrate grass or turf.
Get rid of the chaff and make way for a beautiful lawn with this quick aeration guide. You will learn why, how and when to aerate your lawn to get the best results.If you want to use a lawn aerator then use before you go www.lawncarepal.com
Aeration consists of drilling the soil with small holes to allow air, water and nutrients to penetrate the roots. This helps the roots to grow deeply and produce a stronger and more vigorous grass.
The main reason for aerating is to relieve soil compaction. Compacted soils have too many solid particles in a certain volume or space, which avoids good motion of air, water and nutrients into the soil. Excessive grass straw or large organic debris buried beneath the surface of the grass can also deprive the roots of these essential elements.
One of the most common questions for homeowners is how to determine whether they should aerate their lawns. Your lawn is probably a good candidate for aeration if:
Gets intensive, like serving as a neighborhood playground or racetrack. Children and pets that run around the yard contribute to soil compaction.
It was established as part of a newly built house. Often, the surface layer of the newly constructed lawn is stripped or buried, and grass established in the subsoil has been compacted by construction traffic.
It dries easily and has a spongy feeling. This could mean that your lawn has an excessive straw problem. Take a shovel and remove a slice of turf about four inches deep. If the straw layer is larger than half an inch, aeration is recommended.
It was established by the lawn, and the soil layer exists. The soil layer means that the finer textured soil, which comes with the imported turf, is layered over the thickest existing soil. This layer interrupts the drainage, as the water remains in the finest textured soil. This leads to compacted conditions and poor root development. Ventilation breaks the layers, allowing water to flow through the soil more easily and reaches the roots.
The best time for aeration is during the growing season, when the lawn can heal and fill any open area after the soil plugs are removed. Ideally, aerate the lawn with fresh season lawn in early spring or autumn and those with hot season grass in late spring.
There are two main aeration tools: a spigot aerator and a plug aerator. With a spade aerator, simply use the tool to drill holes in the ground with a solid tooth, or fork. Plug aerators remove a core or plug from lawn and grass lawn.
For best results, use an aeration tool or a machine that actually eliminates ground plugs. Drill holes are less effective and can actually cause additional compaction in the areas around the holes.
Look for an aeration tool or a machine that removes earth plugs approximately 2 to 3 inches deep and 0.5 to 0.75 inches in diameter and approximately 2 to 3 inches apart. These machines can be rented from lawn and garden stores or home improvement centers. Always follow the instructions provided by the store.
You may want to consider sharing the cost of renting with a neighbor who is interested in aerating the lawn. If you are convinced that your lawn needs aeration, here are some tips for lawn care on how to do it:
Before you start, make sure the floor is wet enough. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to aerate the floor which is dry bone. Aerating the day after a rain or watering your lawn the day before is advised.
Most aeration machines cover only a small percentage of the floor surface per step, so they make multiple passes over the most compressed parts. Save properties (and your vigor) by leave-taking the genuine areas alone
The excavated earthen plugs should be allowed to dry and then broken to give your lawn a uniform and clean look. Break them by running with a lawn mower or hitting them with the back of a rake. (You may need to sharpen the blade of your mower after breaking the plugs.)
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