Such Wonderful Spring Weather
This is about the time I’d say you need to aerate your lawn, but it snowed yesterday. Global warming? More like global weirding, right? But I shouldn’t worry, the snow probably isn’t going to last too long. It’ll probably be gone before too long. Given the snow, it’s probably not a good idea to aerate your lawn right now, but it’ll be time soon, so let’s take a look at the why and when of lawn aeration.
Why Do We Need to Aerate the Lawn?
Lawn care is an ongoing process. It’s called maintenance because you need to maintain it. I shouldn’t need to tell you that a good lawn needs air, water, and nutrients in the soil to grow. That’s pretty basic need for all living things. What you might not know, however, is how much the soil can become compacted as you use your lawn; even just your kids and pets playing on it can cause this to happen. When the soil becomes compacted, it becomes harder for air and water to seep down to the roots of your lawn. If that happens, it stunts your lawn’s growth. During times of stress, such as the heat and low rainfall of summer, compacted soil will cause your grass to lose its healthy, green color. It may even kill it.
How Does Aeration Help?
Aeration is a process of decompressing the soil in your yard. By poking small holes in the soil, it allows water and air to get to the roots more easily and decompacts the soil. If you aerate your lawn at the appropriate times of the year, then your grass will grow stronger and better able to survive the heat and dry spells of the summer. It’s by no means the only thing you have to do for your lawn, but it gives your lawn a boost, making all the other aspects of lawn care more effective.
After you aerate your lawn, you should leave the bits of soil drilled out by the process on the lawn. Overtime, they’ll naturally dry out and break down. When they do, they’ll return to the soil naturally, helping replenish it. Right after you aerate is the best time to fertilize, reseed, and apply pest control to your lawn. The seeds and nutrients will have a more direct access to the soil then, so they’ll get in faster.
When Should I Aerate My Lawn?
Aeration can stress your grass if done at the wrong time, so you need to know when to do it. As with most larger lawn maintenance tasks, it’s best to do it when the grass is at its peak growing time. For our service areas, that’s early spring and early fall. If you’re growing warmer season grass, as is common in most southern areas, the best time is late spring or early summer. If you aerate your lawn during a period of active growth, grasses recover quickly and fill in the areas where the equipment exposed the soil.
Aeration is easiest on you and your equipment if the lawn is moist. The day after a good rainfall in early spring is always the best time. If you live in a drier area where rain is less reliable, then be sure to water your lawn the day before you do the job. While overly dry soil can be difficult to work on, you should never try to aerate your lawn when it’s overly wet. If you’ve had serious rainfall, it’s best to wait a couple of days.
We Can Help!
At CV Lawn King, we can help you with all aspects of lawn maintenance, and that includes aeration. If you need help, or if you just don’t have the time to do it yourself, don’t hesitate to get in touch. We service all of Cache Valley, from Utah up to Idaho, but we also are available for Box Elder County and the Bear Lake area. For Box Elder County, we’ll travel to Brigham City, Tremonton, Fielding, Garland, and Willard. In the Bear Lake area, we cover Garden City, Fish Haven, Bloomington, and Paris. Our reach has never been broader, so let us help you out today!
