We all need to take a breather from time to time, and the lawn is no exception! After the stresses of the summer, aeration is the ideal way to help restore your lawn and help the air, water and fertilizer reach the soil.
Unfortunately, many landowners overlook the lawn for way too long, preventing beneficial organisms penetrate the soil.
So what are the signs that your lawn needs aerating, when is the best time to aerate your lawn, and what are the benefits of aerating lawn?
In this Lawn Advisors article, we’ll help you know when to aerate your lawn, and then we’ll dive into the best 8 important benefits of aerating lawn so you can get a thick, lush and healthy lawn you’ll be proud of come spring!
When Lawn Needs Aeration?
Although it may not seem your lawn could get compacted, it happens easier than you may expect. There are some telltale signs that you can notice to determine if your lawn needs aeration:
– Your lawn surface feels spongy, looks dehydrated or it is turning brown.
– Soil feels hard that is difficult to shovel.
– The topsoil of newly built lawns might get compacted if your home was recently built due to heavy foot and construction traffic.
– If you have kids and pets that cause heavy foot traffic, it can become compacted.
– Thin or brown patchy grass.
– Puddles of water on the lawn in low areas or water rushing out from the lawn during heavy rainfall.
– Bare dirt areas where nothing is growing.
– If you recently had new sod or turf laid down, it can disrupt water drainage.
Benefits of Aerating Lawn
You want to aerate the lawn from time to time, so you can help your lawn become healthier, require less maintenance and most importantly, your grass can grow most vigorously.
Here’re the benefits of aeration for a healthier lawn:
– It Reduces Soil Compaction:
Compacted soil can prevent air, water, and fertilizer to reach the roots of your lawn, leading to dead areas, patches, and/or thinning.
Small soil cores are taken out during core aeration and placed on the turf’s surface. This will help to reduce soil compaction, enabling your grass to grow deeper roots and make better use of water and fertilizer.
– Reduced Runoff and Puddling:
Aeration may be the best solution you need if your yard experiences runoff or puddling issues after rain. Aeration improves air exchange between the soil and atmosphere while lowering soil density.
The roots of your turf are deprived of the required air circulation when the soil is overly compacted. Here comes the role of aeration in reducing dead patches, thinning, and dead spots brought on by root suffocation as well as opening up the compacted soil.
– It Improves Grass Health and Root Growth:
Your grass can get all it needs for growth and health by strengthening the root zone and improving access to air, water, and fertilizer.
With soil aeration, grass roots can stretch, strengthen and grow more vigorously and become even denser.
– It Cuts Down on Fertilizer Needs:
Nitrogen and potassium deficiency is a common problem in grasses growing in compacted soil, where further fertilizer is needed.
Aeration helps grasses in obtaining the nutrients they need naturally.
– Enhanced Heat and Drought Tolerance.
You may also find it difficult to insert trowels or shovels into the soil if your lawn feels dry. Aeration improves soil moisture and softness by providing grass with better access to water.
And now, your grass can handle dry spells better with longer and denser roots.
– It Can Reduce Thatch
You may notice a layer of dead grass that accumulates on your lawn can build up to a thick layer. This may prevent your turf’s roots from getting nutrients, water, and air.
Aeration helps in removing this excessive thatch buildup and enables the soil to absorb important nutrients, microorganisms and water into the soil.
– Increases the Population of Beneficial Organisms:
Organisms like earthworms, soil insects, aerobic bacteria, and fungi thrive in porous, oxygen-rich soil.
Aeration allows air, water and nutrients to penetrate the soil. And when nutrients penetrate the root zone more deeply, it will help maintain soil health.
– It Prepares your Lawn for the Winter and Spring
By pairing fall aeration and fall fertilization, make sure your cool-season grass is in tip-top condition before it goes dormant.
Aeration will increase your lawn’s ability to absorb nutrients more effectively, which maximizes spring greening and protect the grass from summer drought stress.
Watch this video to know more about the benefits of lawn aerating.
Benefits of Aerating Lawn FAQ
To Wrap Up
Although aeration can be done at any time during the growing season, spring and fall are the two most common times, thus allowing air, water and nutrients to reach the roots of grass plants much more effectively.
For that, make sure you read all of the core aeration benefits above for a healthier lawn!
Want to share more benefits of aerating lawn? Tell Lawn Advisors in the comments box below. We’d like to hear from you!
