This has been recognised as one of the most important practices in lawn care maintenance. Practically every lawn would benefit from this type of aeration.
What is lawn aeration?
Lawn aeration puts thousands of holes in the lawn to aid water and air movement through the soil profile. This operation is carried out by using a purposely built lawn aerator.
Why aerate a lawn?
Over a period of time the soil becomes compacted, this can be caused by many things, Lawnmowers, children playing, people walking on it etc. The result is the pore spaces in the soil that contain the air gradually decrease resulting in soil compaction.
Once this happens it can have a detrimental effect on the health of the lawn. Drainage is impeded, shallow rooted grass becomes dominant resulting in poor drought resistance and thatch build up is increased.
The benefits of lawn aeration
The benefits of a well aerated lawn are as follows:
- Improved drainage
- Improved drought resistance due to conditions that favour deeper rooted grasses
- Desirable grasses become dominant
- Increased micro-organism populations
What is the best time for lawn aeration?
Lawns can be aerated at anytime of the year (soil & weather conditions permitting) the ideal time of the year for lawn aeration is normally in the late summer/early autumn.
During drought conditions in the summer, lightly pricking the surface before irrigation takes place will also help.
The different types of aeration
There are 2 main types of lawn aeration used for lawns.
Hollow tine aeration – This type of lawn aeration actually removes cores from the lawn to a typical depth of 4″ or 10cm.
Hollow tining works by hollow tubes being punched into the lawn, thus removing the core, when it is inserted the next time the core is then ejected.
Spiker of solid tine aerator – This type of lawn aeration is ideal for general purpose aeration, relieving compaction and can also be used during autumn renovation. Ideal for lightly spiking the surface prior to watering during the summer to aid water penetration.
