Lawns need treatment all year round, to keep them healthy and looking good. Weeds, moss and diseases are all constant in our often wet and cool British climate. So, if we want a luscious, dense, green lawn, maintenance is required.
What is Lawn Aeration?
Lawn aeration is the process of making holes in the lawn, to help increase air circulation, boost grass root growth, and to let water and nutrients penetrate the soil more easily. Aeration also allows for optimum uptake of our seasonal lawn treatments.
What are signs your lawn may need Aerating?
- How the grass looks – dry looking and dull in colour, due to a lack of nitrogen
- How the grass feels – when you walk over the lawn, instead feeling soft and springy, it feels hard
- Moss/Thatch – mossy lawns require scarifying, but they also need aeration. A compacted lawn lacks air and water which are essential for micro organisms in the soil. These mico-organisms naturally help to break down thatch.
- Standing water – a lawn that has puddles of water after rain. A compacted lawn has little space for water to drain.
- Rain run off – particularly compacted soil doesn’t absorb rain well, instead it tends to run off down or across the lawn
- Lawn Disease – compacted lawns are more susceptible to lawn disease. Some of the prevalent lawn diseases are red thread in summer, rust in autumn and fusarium in autumn and winter.
How do we Aerate Lawns?
Whilst some people use their garden fork to try DIY aeration, this actually further compacts the earth – although a hole is made by the fork prongs, the soil isn’t removed, it’s pushed sideways and downwards. The type of aeration that we at Michelle’s Garden Care offer, is hollow tine aeration. These hollow tines, remove cores of soil (ranging from 50-100mm in depth) equally from all over the lawn, to physically reduce compaction.
When to carry out Lawn Aeration?
Lawns are best aerated between September and the end of April. Summer is not the optimal time to aerate lawns, due to the drier conditions. Furthermore, aeration is usually carried out at the same time as scarification.