Lawn Aeration
Lawn Aeration
Compacted soils cause unhealthy plants.
They stay soggy when wet, and turn rock hard when they dry out in the summer. When soils are "tight", necessary air, water and nutrients cannot move through the soil easily. Disease occurs. Roots are stunted. Beneficial micro-organisms can't survive. Plants are stressed and weakened. When you are doing everything else right, soil compaction will ruin all your efforts.
The goal of any aeration is to get some air into the soil, loosening up clay and compaction. This improves drainage and bioactivity, and should help bring about better soil structure and deeper rooted, healthier grass. Core aerating machines attempt to do this by removing plugs of grass and soil. The problem is that these plugs are usually only 2 - 3 " long, often shorter when dealing with thicker grasses like Tall Fescue and St. Augustine, or if the lawn is bumpy for any reason. On most lawns, the top few inches of soil is where you already have decent soil; usually it is topsoil, or maybe even clay that has already been broken up by grass roots. It is the soil 4 -10" deep, where you want the roots to grow, that needs aeration most. That is where you find the worst compaction or clay. Core aeration machines don't go anywhere near this soil.
When you pull plugs with a coring machine, you are also thinning out the lawn. You might be pulling out 3% or more of the existing grass. So it may be a good idea to overseed after you do core aeration. Many landscapers core aerate with the sole purpose of making lots of holes for overseeding lawns with newer, better grasses. If you have a matted Thatch layer, poking holes through it with an aerator will give temporary channels for air and water to pass through, but according to Cornell, doing this once or twice annually will not make a difference if the soil is compacted. To get the thatch to break down and decompose, you need to have a well-aerated and bioactive soil. As far as actually aerating and bio activating the soil, core aeration leaves a lot to be desired.
When you pull plugs with a coring machine, you are also thinning out the lawn. You might be pulling out 3% or more of the existing grass. So it may be a good idea to overseed after you do core aeration. Many landscapers core aerate with the sole purpose of making lots of holes for overseeding lawns with newer, better grasses. If you have a matted Thatch layer, poking holes through it with an aerator will give temporary channels for air and water to pass through, but according to Cornell, doing this once or twice annually will not make a difference if the soil is compacted. To get the thatch to break down and decompose, you need to have a well-aerated and bioactive soil.
Aerating:
Helps loosen clay and reduce compaction
Eliminates the need for mechanical aeration
Improves water retention during drought
Bio-activates the soil and detoxifies
Helps reduce disease
Improves rooting
Helps with turf diseases
Helps wet soils drain faster
Maximizes fertilizer benefits
One of the secrets to a great lawn is having a porous, well-aerated soil where roots can grow deeply and biolife can thrive. According to the experts, the best soils should contain about 25% air. Unfortunately, most soils have a high clay content or are very compacted. They need to be loosened up and core aeration doesn't seem to do much to help.
Did you know? The structure of your soil is crucial to the health of your lawn and plants. Soils that are too sandy or claylike are problem soils. Adding Organic matter has long been recognized as one of the best ways to improve soil structure. Our Natural Lawn Aeration application helps break up the clay and gets the organic matter "working" much faster.
Mechanical Aeration vs. Bio-Enhanced Organic Dethatchers
Aerating machines only penetrate 2-3 inches into the root zone and much less on bumpy or thatchy lawns. This is where the soil is already pretty good on a lot of lawns. You want to get into the tougher, more claylike soil 3-8 inches deep to encourage rooting and improve drainage. Bio-Enhanced Organic Dethatchers will penetrate beyond the existing root zone and additional applications will penetrate even deeper.
Aerating machines expose weed seeds to light and can cause them to germinate.
If you do not have a thick lawn then removing plugs of grass and roots with a machine will result in thinning out the lawn.
Aerating machines poke holes about 6 inches apart. They do not structurally change the soil. Bio-Enhanced Organic Dethatchers covers 100% of the soil and it actually breaks up the bonds that hold clay particles together.
Aerating machines can harm tree roots, sprinklers and hidden pipes or wires under the lawn. Bio-Enhanced Organic Dethatchers is completely safe to use over all lawn areas. And because it penetrates deeper, it will help trees too.
Aerating machines are only used in the spring and fall when conditions are just right. Bio-Enhanced Organic Dethatchers can be used any time of the year.
Aerating machines leave messy plugs on top of the lawn. Bio-Enhanced Organic Dethatchers leaves no mess at all.
I have sold all my mechanical aerating equipment and am now using Bio-Enhanced Organic Dethatchers exclusively.
Compacted soils cause unhealthy plants.
They stay soggy when wet, and turn rock hard when they dry out in the summer. When soils are "tight", necessary air, water and nutrients cannot move through the soil easily. Disease occurs. Roots are stunted. Beneficial micro-organisms can't survive. Plants are stressed and weakened. When you are doing everything else right, soil compaction will ruin all your efforts.
The goal of any aeration is to get some air into the soil, loosening up clay and compaction. This improves drainage and bioactivity, and should help bring about better soil structure and deeper rooted, healthier grass. Core aerating machines attempt to do this by removing plugs of grass and soil. The problem is that these plugs are usually only 2 - 3 " long, often shorter when dealing with thicker grasses like Tall Fescue and St. Augustine, or if the lawn is bumpy for any reason. On most lawns, the top few inches of soil is where you already have decent soil; usually it is topsoil, or maybe even clay that has already been broken up by grass roots. It is the soil 4 -10" deep, where you want the roots to grow, that needs aeration most. That is where you find the worst compaction or clay. Core aeration machines don't go anywhere near this soil.
When you pull plugs with a coring machine, you are also thinning out the lawn. You might be pulling out 3% or more of the existing grass. So it may be a good idea to overseed after you do core aeration. Many landscapers core aerate with the sole purpose of making lots of holes for overseeding lawns with newer, better grasses. If you have a matted Thatch layer, poking holes through it with an aerator will give temporary channels for air and water to pass through, but according to Cornell, doing this once or twice annually will not make a difference if the soil is compacted. To get the thatch to break down and decompose, you need to have a well-aerated and bioactive soil. As far as actually aerating and bio activating the soil, core aeration leaves a lot to be desired.
When you pull plugs with a coring machine, you are also thinning out the lawn. You might be pulling out 3% or more of the existing grass. So it may be a good idea to overseed after you do core aeration. Many landscapers core aerate with the sole purpose of making lots of holes for overseeding lawns with newer, better grasses. If you have a matted Thatch layer, poking holes through it with an aerator will give temporary channels for air and water to pass through, but according to Cornell, doing this once or twice annually will not make a difference if the soil is compacted. To get the thatch to break down and decompose, you need to have a well-aerated and bioactive soil.
Aerating:
Helps loosen clay and reduce compaction
Eliminates the need for mechanical aeration
Improves water retention during drought
Bio-activates the soil and detoxifies
Helps reduce disease
Improves rooting
Helps with turf diseases
Helps wet soils drain faster
Maximizes fertilizer benefits
One of the secrets to a great lawn is having a porous, well-aerated soil where roots can grow deeply and biolife can thrive. According to the experts, the best soils should contain about 25% air. Unfortunately, most soils have a high clay content or are very compacted. They need to be loosened up and core aeration doesn't seem to do much to help.
Did you know? The structure of your soil is crucial to the health of your lawn and plants. Soils that are too sandy or claylike are problem soils. Adding Organic matter has long been recognized as one of the best ways to improve soil structure. Our Natural Lawn Aeration application helps break up the clay and gets the organic matter "working" much faster.
Mechanical Aeration vs. Bio-Enhanced Organic Dethatchers
Aerating machines only penetrate 2-3 inches into the root zone and much less on bumpy or thatchy lawns. This is where the soil is already pretty good on a lot of lawns. You want to get into the tougher, more claylike soil 3-8 inches deep to encourage rooting and improve drainage. Bio-Enhanced Organic Dethatchers will penetrate beyond the existing root zone and additional applications will penetrate even deeper.
Aerating machines expose weed seeds to light and can cause them to germinate.
If you do not have a thick lawn then removing plugs of grass and roots with a machine will result in thinning out the lawn.
Aerating machines poke holes about 6 inches apart. They do not structurally change the soil. Bio-Enhanced Organic Dethatchers covers 100% of the soil and it actually breaks up the bonds that hold clay particles together.
Aerating machines can harm tree roots, sprinklers and hidden pipes or wires under the lawn. Bio-Enhanced Organic Dethatchers is completely safe to use over all lawn areas. And because it penetrates deeper, it will help trees too.
Aerating machines are only used in the spring and fall when conditions are just right. Bio-Enhanced Organic Dethatchers can be used any time of the year.
Aerating machines leave messy plugs on top of the lawn. Bio-Enhanced Organic Dethatchers leaves no mess at all.
I have sold all my mechanical aerating equipment and am now using Bio-Enhanced Organic Dethatchers exclusively.
