5 Reasons To Aerate Your Lawn This Fall

Fall is the best time to do any mechanical modification to your customer’s lawn primarily because we have just left behind the heat of the summer. The lawn has already suffered whatever damages Mother Nature has thrown at it. And in the fall, the days are still long enough and the nights are warm enough to get the lawn back in shape.

During the summer, you could experience the following challenges at the properties you maintain:

• Drought stress or excessive moisture
• Compaction
• Disease
• Insect infestation

Any one of these issues can have a dramatic effect on how the lawn survives over the coming seasons. So let’s look at some of the reasons why aerating is beneficial to turf’s long-term health:

Reason #1: Aeration Regenerates the Root System

The main reason you aerate is for regeneration of the root system. The roots are the delivery system that supplies the oxygen, water, and nutrients necessary to support the life of the turf. Roots need ample oxygen to survive and grow. Aeration allows you to open up channels and get oxygen directly to the root system. These channels also serve as a funnel for water to reach the roots and create an undisturbed area for the roots to grow.

Reason #2: Aeration Oxygenates Microbes in the Root Zone

Oxygen is also required by the microbes that live in the root zone. Microbes not only help deliver nutrients, but they eliminate waste that the turf secretes. Without them, you would not have a survivable landscape.

Reason #3: Aeration Makes it Easier to Change Soil Chemistry

Another reason we aerate is that it provides us a more direct way to add nutrients that can positively change the soil chemistry. For example, if a soil sample from one of the properties you maintain shows that the soil is low in calcium, aeration can help you introduce the calcium directly into the soil. It’s much more effective than applying it on top and washing it in with a lot of water.

Reason #4: Aeration Removes Thatch

Aeration is also a good way to remove excessive thatch. Thatch is often a direct result of excess watering and high amounts of water soluble nitrogen. If you have excessive thatch (1” or greater), more than one aerification a year might be required since you can only remove less than 3% of the thatch (depending on tine spacing).

Reason #5: Aeration Helps New Seed Take Root

When trying to overseed into an existing lawn, core aeration can help to create a good seed bed for new seed. It gives the seedling uncompromised room to exist and take root. It’s much easier than trying to do so in an existing turf canopy.