Core Aeration and Your Lawn
Core aeration for your lawn is a necessary procedure that should be done every season. What the process does is it relieves soil compaction by pulling up plugs of soil from your lawn and a lot of other benefits.
Strangely, not a lot of people know why they should get their lawn aerated. We hope this post will shed some light on why it is one of the best things you can do for lawn care maintenance.
Here is a simple bullet list of the benefits.
- Breaks up soil compaction
- Eliminates or lessens fertilizer and other application run off
- Helps grass roots grow in
- Microbiological activity increases and helps thatch decomposition
- Helps air, water, and nutrients reach the roots of your grass
How Core Aeration Works
Core aeration leads to a healthy lawn.
Whether it’s an adult or a child walking on the lawn, and even a small pet, soil compaction caused by foot traffic is inevitable. Soil compaction, as you can imagine, makes it difficult for the roots of the grass to grow. Even the cold temperatures of winter add to this problem. When you use a core aerator, you pull up soil plugs which allows your lawn to breath by creating spaces of air.
So after the machine has gone around and pulled up soil plugs, you will see them lying all over your lawn. Over time these plugs break down and the whole process helps microorganisms flourish and assist in the whole process. They go after the thatch and although obvious, less thatch leads to a healthier lawn.
The holes left from core aeration are a good thing for several reasons.
As mentioned above, the roots can now spread out. A strong and deep root system helps the health of your grass. Keep in mind that roots grow where they have space not in the soil itself. So if the soil on your property is tight and compacted the roots won’t grow and spread out. This leaves the lawn susceptible to the elements, disease, etc.
The holes also create space for water to find it’s way to the grass roots. After a successful aeration of your lawn, the square footage that can now absorb water and nutrients is up to five times what it was before!
Lastly, the holes left behind allow oxygen to reach the roots. This leads to the roots of the lawn growing and spreading out again.
Your Lawn Needs Core Aeration
Whether you go to Home Depot and rent a core aerator ($50+) or you hire us to do it, the benefits of getting this done gives so much advantage to your lawn and dramatically increases the likelihood that it will reach a level of health that helps it thrive this season.
If you got something from this article about core aeration please LIKE it below and leave a comment.
Request a free quote if you live in the neighbourhoods we service.