Should You Aerate This Spring?

Believe it or not, spring is just around the corner! When the weather breaks and your lawn starts to wake up from its winter nap, you may start to wonder what your lawn needs for the season. Is it healthy? Does it need aeration?

Aeration is a simple way to get your lawn healthy. You can either do it yourself by renting the equipment and product needed, or you can let a professional lawn care company do it for you.

If you’re unfamiliar with what aeration is, it pulls plugs throughout your grass allowing oxygen, water, and nutrients to get down into the soil, necessary for the growth and health of your lawn. Core aeration is a great way to keep your lawn healthy, so let’s talk more about the benefits of aeration and when the right time to aerate your lawn is.

Why Aerate?

Lawn aeration is a treatment used when the soil in your lawn is compacted. Compacted soils make it so water and air don’t reach the roots of the grass in your lawn, leaving your lawn without the nutrients it needs to grow and be healthy.

A lawn can become easily compacted if a lot of action goes on in your yard. During the winter months, your soil is most vulnerable to compaction, so your grass may have a difficult time recovering if a path becomes well worn across the lawn.

Compacted Soil Symptoms

You can tell whether or not your soil is compacted together because there will be little room for water to slip through the lawn, blocking the water from reaching the grass roots.

If you see pooling in your lawn after heavy rain or water running right off the soil, your lawn could be in desperate need of aeration. Other than poor drainage, if your lawn is turning brown, looking dehydrated, or there is a stunted growth of plants, then it is not getting enough water and needs some core aeration.

When to Aerate

The best time to aerate your lawn is in the early spring and early fall. To best prevent weeds with core aeration, you will need to aerate before spring weeds start to germinate, which is usually when the daily average soil temperature is 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

For spring aerating, the best time to aerate your lawn in Ohio is early to mid March. There is a small window of time when the soil is not too wet or too dry that aerating should be done.

Keep in mind, if you plan on using pre-emergent so that crabgrass doesn’t germinate, then your window of time to spring aerate is even smaller.

If you receive an aeration too soon after applying pre-emergent and before crabgrass germinates, it will break the barrier of protection allowing crabgrass to take over your lawn. This can result in more time and money to get rid of the crabgrass and repair the lawn with aeration and overseeding in the fall.

How Does Core Aeration Work?

A core aerator machine pulls out plugs of soil in your lawn to leave pockets for air and water to get through and leave room for root growth.

It is important to use core aeration methods because using spikes to just poke holes in the ground could actually cause more compaction. The plugs of soil that were taken out by the aerator will break down and give more nutrients to your lawn.

Trust The Pros

As you start preparing for spring, look to see if your lawn is in need of an aeration this season. When comparing prices, you might find that hiring a lawn care company will cost you about the same as renting the equipment, buying seed and fertilizer, and spending your free time doing the work.

Professionals have the knowledge and the skills to give you a beautiful and healthy lawn that will thrive throughout the whole spring and summer.