When is the best time to aerate?
We aerate most lawns in spring or early summer. Aerating early in the growing season allows the roots system plenty of time to multiply into a thicker undergrowth, resulting in a thicker top growth. This gives your lawn a chance to become thicker, healthier and greener faster than aerating later in the season. However, any time the soil is moist enough to allow the aeration machine to penetrate and pull a plug 1" to 3" in length is adequate. Fall is also a good time to aerate because the plants' root system naturally multiplies at this time and aerating then compliments that natural growing process.
Do I need to have my lawn aerated every year?
Annual aeration will cultivate your lawn soil to provide your lawn with the best possible growing condition. Aeration is not permanent - the plugs dry and break up, filtering back to the many holes they came from. Most golf courses and professional athletic fields are aerated at least annually. They are in the business to look good and their groundskeepers know that repeated aeration will give their turf areas the best chance possible for maximum health.
We do recommend annual lawn aeration.
Won't all these plugs make a mess out of my yard?
No. You will notice many plugs on your lawn that range from 1" to 3" in length. These plugs will dry and break up, filtering back into the ground starting about 1 week after the lawn was aerated. It will be hard to find one of these plugs weeks later.
Do I have to rake the plugs up after aerating?
No. there is no need to rake up the plugs and we request that you don't. The benefit comes from loosening the soil to allow air, water and nutrients to penetrate to the root zone, not actually removing soil from the lawn.
