Aerate Your Lawn How and Why

How and Why to Aerate Your Lawn

Hi, this is Skip Orth with Father and Son Pest and Lawn Solutions. Today I'm going to talk about aerating your lawn.

Types of Aerators

There are two main types of aerators. This one is a core aerator, so called because the tines are hollow, like little tubes. When they go into the ground, they pull out small cores of soil, about the size of a finger. This is the best type of aerator to use.

The other type is a spike aerator. Instead of hollow tines, it has solid spikes that just poke holes in the ground rather than pulling cores of soil out. Between the two, the core aerator is the better choice.

Why Aerate

Aerating loosens the soil so that air, moisture, and nutrients can reach the root system of the grass, allowing it to take those elements up and grow healthier.

I'm demonstrating this on an area of my own lawn that's struggled for a long time. It's not as green or vibrant as the rest of the yard, largely because it's surrounded by trees. Trees and grass growing in the same area compete for water, nutrients, and sunlight, and the trees, being bigger and stronger, usually win that competition. Aeration is one of the ways to help give the grass a competitive edge against root competition from nearby trees.

For an area like this, I aerate about once a month during the growing season and add a little fertilizer to help it recover.

How to Aerate

Start the aerator and lower the tines into the ground. Most core aerators are self-propelled, so once the tines are down, the machine will move forward on its own.

When you reach the end of a pass and need to turn around, lift the tines back up first. Turning the aerator with the tines down will tear up the grass. Once you've turned around, lower the tines again and make your next pass.

As you go, you'll see the cores of soil the aerator pulls up, each about the size of a finger. Leave these on the ground. They'll break down naturally and work back into the soil over time.

Make sure your passes are close together with no gaps between rows. A little overlap is fine, and it's hard to aerate a lawn too much in one session. Some people aerate in one direction and then make a second pass in the opposite direction for extra coverage.

As the holes fill in and collapse, it creates a chain reaction in the soil, forming micro pockets that hold air, moisture, and nutrients for the grass.

When to Aerate

Aerate a lawn that's weak or struggling, has soil compaction, doesn't drain well, or deals with a lot of root competition from trees or other plants.