Lawn Aerating 101

As you drive around your neighborhood you may see lots of professional landscapers performing spring clean ups for their customers.  And for sure they are aerating the soil. Believe it or not, one of the best things to do to your lawn in Spring is to poke holes in it.

Do it yourself?  Here are a few tips for aerating on your lawn.

Many Ace stores offer rental of both lawn aerators and lawn rakes. Technically both of these tasks should be done in the spring.  The lawn rake will remove all the dead thatch from a lawn and allow new growth to occur more easily. Aerating the soil with a core aerating machine pokes holes in the lawn and lifts out a dirt plug. This allows air to enter deeper into the soil to promote root penetration into the soil.  Deeper roots translate to a stronger, more resistant lawn.

Another option for aerating a lawn is a manual aerator. This option doesn’t involve renting equipment, but a little bit of your own time and energy.  With a tool like the Yard Butler Lawn Coring Aerator can help revitalize your lawn while using less water and fertilizer. Old lawns can become compacted. Thatch from dead roots can also build up to create a thick barrier, keeping water and air from reaching the roots. By removing two 3-1/2 inch cores, the Lawn Coring Aerator reduces compaction and thatch to let air, water and fertilizer down to the root zone. At the same time it stimulates root growth by “pruning” the roots. Golf courses and baseball fields everywhere aerate their lawns. The heavy duty powder coated steel is guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Here are a few more tips that the Yard Butler can provide with a manual aerating tool:

• • Removes two 3 ½ inch cores, reducing soil compaction while letting air, water and fertilizer get down to the roots
• • Your lawn will look better with less water and fertilizer
• • Promotes vigorous root growth, strengthening tolerance to drought and heat stress
• • Perfect garden tool for easily aerating smaller yards
• • 37 inch tool height is designed to reduce back strain and make it easy to aerate your whole yard

After these jobs are done it’s a good idea to seed your lawn, cover with some topsoil and peat moss and then water twice a week for a couple of weeks. After you see the new growth fill in any reaming bare spots with more seed and then you can start with a fertilizing plan for the season.