Once you’ve removed this barrier and have a smooth surface, you can start aerating. You can use a regular rake or dethatching rake to break up and remove the thatch layer. If it builds up to a layer that’s greater than ½ inch, it can block your grassroots from absorbing water, air, and nutrients-just like compaction.ĭethatching is an easy process. Thatch is a layer of decomposing organic matter that sits between the grass and soil. If you can, aerate the day after it rains, or a day after you’ve watered your lawn.īefore you start the process of lawn aeration, you’ll need to dethatch. Soil that’s a little moist is ideal-too wet, and aerating will be a mess. You should never aerate soil that’s overly dry. Augustine grass, should be aerated in late spring, or early summer at the latest. Warm season grasses, like Bermuda grass and St. You should aerate cool season grasses like fine fescue and Kentucky bluegrass in early fall or early spring. Lawn aeration is most effective during a grass’s growing season, allowing it to heal more quickly. The time of year you aerate depends on your grass type. But if you have a heavy clay soil, your lawn could benefit from aeration every year-or even twice a year, if it gets heavy foot traffic. If you have a sandy soil, you probably don’t need to aerate more than every two to three years. How often you aerate depends on the conditions of your lawn. If you’re met with a lot of resistance, you have compacted soil. If you can easily slide your screwdriver several inches into your lawn’s soil surface, you’re good. If you’re not sure, simply pull out your toolkit and perform the screwdriver test. These inconsistent layers can reduce drainage, which can cause compaction and make it difficult for root systems to grow. Sod and soil layering – If you have a sod lawn, you may have soil layering-meaning the sod’s fine soil was placed on top of coarse soil when it was installed.Foot traffic – Lawns that get a lot of foot traffic may become compacted.New construction – If your lawn was established as part of a new home, its topsoil may be buried, and construction workers may have stepped on and compacted the subsoil.High clay content – Clay soils are more likely to become compacted than sandy soils because they’re heavier.Here are some factors that might increase the likelihood of soil compaction: Soil compaction also encourages weed growth and makes lawns more vulnerable to drought.
Dense and tightly packed, compacted soil inhibits root growth by cutting off access to nutrients. The thatch layer is also broken down from this process.If your soil has become compacted, it’s time to aerate. This hole allows the increase in the exchange of nutrients, air, and water between the roots and the surface. To aerate your lawn, thousands of hollow tines are inserted into the ground, pulling out plugs of dirt. However, with sandy soil aeration is needed only every two or three years. With heavy soil that tends to become hard by the middle of summer, you should aerate every other year. How often you should aerate your lawn depends on the type of soil you have. It can control thatch, relieves soil compaction, and reduces how often the lawn needs watering. Rolling your lawn allows it to be much easier to mow the grass during the summer months.Īerating your lawn has benefits as well. This action can cause root damage to the grass. Waiting until your lawn is almost dry can cause you to compact your lawn from crushing the air pockets out of the lawn. The ideal time to roll your lawn would be in the early spring while there is still plenty of water in it. The thought behind rolling your lawn is that by utilizing a large, heavy machine that rolls over our lawns, the extra water from various weather conditions can be squeezed out, which creates a more level ground. Through the winter and while the frost and snow leave the ground, our lawns can become very uneven. The Wonderful Benefits of Aerating and Rolling Your Lawn
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