Why You Should Aerate Your Lawn

Why does my lawn need aeration? What does aeration do?

As your lawn goes through seasons it develops some issues that reduce its ability to thrive. Over time, the soil compacts under the tires of the lawn mower, snow pack, vehicle and foot traffic. This compaction causes serious issues. The grass roots can't spread, water and air don't penetrate which makes the grass' ability to absorb nutrients very difficult. If you don't fix the compaction issue the grass will eventually suffocate and begin to struggle and die.

We don't typically look at a lawn as thousands of small grass plants but that's exactly what they are! A large grass plant is a happy grass plant. To grow a large plant, you need to aerate the soil to allow its roots to penetrate, grow and prosper.

Over time, soil and the underlying thatch of your lawn can become compacted, which can seriously affect your lawn's ability to thrive.

Core aeration service is designed to perforate the soil with thousands of small holes that allows water, air and nutrients to penetrate deep into the root layer. These holes produce space that encourage the roots to penetrate deeper into the soil, spread out and absorb water and nutrients. The result - a stronger, healthier more drought tolerant lawn that you've always wanted.

When is the best time of year to aerate my lawn?

We've found that early fall is the best time to core aerate. There are a few reasons but mostly because the weather is on our side. The cool nights means your lawn will no longer be stressed by mid-summer heat. Cool weather also marks the end of crab grass season as they start to turn purple and die. Not to mention most other common weeds are prolifically germinating. Aeration can be stressful to a lawn. The fall is the best time to aerate because the lawn will begin to thrive and thicken. A thick lawn in the fall means a thick lawn in the spring that is more resistant to weeds, disease and issues.

How often should I aerate my lawn?

Deciding how often to aerate is no easy task. It really depends on the structure of your soil. What do we mean by 'structure'? It's the proportion of the different elements that make up loam (i.e. dirt). Loam is made up of Sand, Silt and Clay. The ratios of these products will determine the structure of the soil. Different soils need aeration more than others. A clay based soil will need to be done more than a sandy soil. Check out this cool soil triangle if you don't believe us.

We know it can get complicated, so what's the rule of thumb for how often you should aerate your lawn?

We recommend you aerate your lawn AT LEAST once a year.

Why aerate at least annually? Because core aeration is always beneficial when done properly. There are some caveats to this such as avoiding periods of lawn stress, drought, flooding, disease, and weed infestation.

Confused? Don't be. The smartest choice is to leave your aeration to the professionals. At North Point Outdoors, we know all there is to know about aeration. We'll help you make an informed decision that will create the best results for your property and your budget.

What about my irrigation system, won't it get punctured?

Great point! We are after all talking about putting thousands of holes in your lawn. Needless to say this seems like a threat to your irrigation system. But fear not - if installed correctly your irrigation system piping should be 2-3" deeper than our core aerators can reach. When it comes to the sprinkler heads we will mark them with flags if needed and avoid them. If any of your sprinkler heads or irrigation pipe is damaged we can easily repair and replace them for you at no cost. This is another benefit of choosing a professional like North Point Outdoors to handle your lawn aeration for you.

Can I do lawn aeration myself?

Honestly, core aeration is a very difficult service to perform on your own. Besides having to rent a machine you must know how to safely use it or you could very easily damage the lawn or hurt yourself. A core aeration machine weighs a few hundred pounds and has hundreds of sharp core spikes. This is not a fun machine to wrestle around the lawn on a Saturday morning. There is a reason you don't see a 'do-it-yourself' core aeration demonstration on HGTV.

Rental costs will run you around $100 for the day. Not to mention having to get it into the pickup truck bed for the ride home. After spending the day twisting, pulling, pushing and grappling the machine around the lawn, hopefully avoiding damaging your sprinkler system, the lawn, or your fingers and toes in the process, at best you've completed the job without knowing for sure if you've done it exactly right. This is a job for the professionals.