Aerating a lawn is among the best ways to improve its drainage. It involves perforating the lawn, allowing water, oxygen, and nutrients to penetrate easily into the root zone of the grass.
You should seriously consider aerating your lawn if it is perpetually caked in water, exhibits bare areas, or is unhealthy and yellowed.
A lawn that is nice, lush, and healthy is a lawn that receives adequate water, oxygen, and nutrients to sustain optimum health.
Unfortunately, some yards are heavily compacted because of excessive foot traffic, are installed on compacted soil due to construction, or are saturated with thatch.
For these yards, aerating is required on an ongoing basis to improve the flow of water through the topsoil so that the lawn is able to grow nicely.
How to Aerate a Lawn?
Like we said, to aerate a lawn means to poke holes in the soil and the mat of thatch covering the soil to allow water to flow through and avoid compacted areas.
In other words, you are creating small, but deep holes that allow water and nutrients to filter through to the grass roots.
The method will depend on what equipment you are using.
No matter what way, you should always begin at the edge of the lawn and systematically work so that you cover every area of the lawn.
Core Aeration
Core aeration is a drastic, but effective, aeration technique.
Otherwise known as plug aeration, this method uses machines with tines that perforate the soil to remove plugs of soil and thatch, which is an impediment for water and nutrients flowing.
Core aeration picks up the soil all over the lawn while breaking up the compaction of the soil to allow additional room for water, oxygen, and nutrients to flow into that soil to promote healthy growth of your grasses.
Important Note: This method of aerated is a relatively more permanent part of a solution because you are getting the ‘root’ of the issue and allowing grassroots to regrow in a healthy manner.
Spike Aeration
Spike aeration is easier but not as effective as core aeration.
Spike aeration uses machines with spikes, and sometimes spike shoes (i.e., spikes attached to boots). So if you’re a DIY kind of person, that’s a huge win.
Whereas core aeration accomplishes its goal by removing small plugs of soil and thatch from the soil, spike aeration pushes them in.
Because it’s easier to execute, it’s also cheaper comparatively.
However, it doesn’t last long because you really haven’t created any space for your grass to breathe.
So you’ll have to repeat the process shortly after.
How Does Aerating a Lawn Help with Drainage?
Lawn aeration cuts through the compaction of soil and thatch that happens over time when a lawn isn’t properly maintained, or when people are walking or trampling all over it during play.
That means little or no breathing room for the soil with compaction and thatch build up on a lawn! The drainage aspect becomes a problem and water can stay on the surface.
Not only is this a bit of an eyesore, it can also threaten the health of the grass and therefore, the look of your lawn.
Without aerating, grassroots won’t have access to nutrients and water, because there won’t be a way for the nutrients and water to pass through the compacted soil and thatch.
So, the grass will starve and weeds will grow stronger and better. So, this is where aerating can help the grassroots access nutrients, water, and air, which would help.
Aeration also helps to keep the water flowing through the soil and not sitting on the surface. This improves the appearance of the lawn.
Also it helps the grass with the absorption and uptake of nutrients, and you will ultimately have a properly green, healthy lawn.
How Do You Know That Your Lawn Needs Aeration?
There are lots of signs that indicate that your lawn needs aeration (in a pinch).
But sometimes it is not so obvious that some aeration is needed, so it is good to continue to do aeration on a regular basis.
Still, these are the signs that you should areating your lawn right now:
- When the turf has a hardness to it. You’ll likely realize this with a hoe or shovel, and you realize you cannot sink it into the turf. This identifies that the dirt is compacted and closed up, so if you want to establish a little airflow, you might need to aerate.
- When the turf has a thatch profile thicker than half an inch. Thick thatch shuts swampy the air ways and passage ways of the soil. In summary, water and nutrient materials cannot reach the roots of your grass. For that reason, you want to aerate your turf by getting rid of the thatch.
- When water stays on the surface for a long time. If you find puddles of water sitting on the surface of your turf and they tend to linger there for hours, that is an indication you need aeration. Water should ideally drain immediately or certainly within several minutes. Aerating will typically improve the drainage for your turf.
- When the grass is patchy. Grass generally grows when provided sufficient water and nutrients. Therefore, if not growing at all, there is no access to any of those items; which suggests poor drainage. Aerating the turf will give you not the best, but better chance to fix this mess.
- When the dirt is highly clay content. Clay is generally the most compact soil type; and hence leaves no opportunity for materials to drain; and very little air space for the flow of air and nutrients. You will have to continually aerate, if you recently purchased a lawn with high clay content.
- When there often is human traffic/activity on the turf. Human traffic in this case could be walking, children playing, or driving and parking on the turf. This all compacts the soil and inhibits proper drainage. If human activity is frequent on your turf, you will need to frequently aerate.
When Is the Best Time to Aerate Your Lawn?
When you should aerate your lawn will vary depending on the type of grass it contains. Obviously you want to aerate your lawn at the beginning of the grass’ growing season.
For example, if you have warm-season grass, you should aerate your lawn during the warmer months, typically anytime from the middle of spring to early summer. Likewise, you should aerate your lawn at the beginning of any cool-season grass, likely early fall.
You need to know what type of grass is in your lawn. Also, if you notice any of the reasons in the previous sections, it is likely you should aerate your lawn.
For Example: If the ground on your lawn if hard, you should look to aerate your lawn.
Final Thoughts
Aeration is just poking holes into dirt to allow for better drainage.
This way, water, nutrients, and air can easily flow through the dirt allowing a root system to develop. Healthy grass leads to an optimally looking lawn that you can enjoy relaxingly looking at.
There are many signs that indicate a lawn needs aeration, firstly the soil is so hard even a shovel or hoe won’t break through. Secondly, it has bare patches in some areas.
Thirdly, water will saturate on the surface for a long time due to being unable to drain properly.
All in all, aeration is possible if you’re diligent and aerate as needed for that lush healthy, green look.