Why Lawn Aeration Is Important

Gardening Tips
Lawn Aeration

Lawn care is very important, but sometimes you might wonder how to go about it. For example, one of the most common questions is about watering. How much watering is needed and how often do you have to do it? If you water your lawn too often, it will keep the air spaces in the soil all filled up, and you need to remember that roots need oxygen for the grass and other plants to absorb the water. Lack of watering will make the grass die. So, it's important to carefully measure the water level and how much you have to water your lawn.

Overwatering can damage roots of your plants, but it can also lead to another problem: it can affect the soil and make it all compact and dense. This is why water and air will have a difficulty penetrating the surface. When soil is compacted it can lead to many problems. Luckily, there is a very effective solution: soil aeration.

About Lawn Aeration

Law aeration can remedy the soil and save your lawn or a garden. The best time to do this is during spring or fall. This is when the soil is naturally moist and cultivated holes are left in the turf, so they can readily admit water and air. It's important to understand that all lawns and soils in other parts of your garden can benefit from aerating. Lawns love to be aerated and you can never aerate it too much. Your lawn will be thankful for it: it will green up and the grass will thicken.

Before doing the aeration, you need to estimate your lawn's compaction level. It varies greatly from lawn to lawn. Even on the same lawn, the level of compaction may differ due to different amounts of wear and the way you use different parts of your lawn. It can also differ due to different amount of sun or drainage certain parts of lawn get or due to changes in the soil.

Experts will usually be able to see just from the color and health of the grass which areas are compacted and which ones are ok. This isn't a difficult thing for an expert to do, so you will be able to get a right information about the state of the soil on your lawn.

Measuring Lawn Compaction

There is one secure way to measure the compaction level of a lawn: to use a compaction meter. A compaction meter is a special tool made to measure the difficult in which a probe is inserted in the soil. The more air there is in the soil, the easier is to spike it with the probe. All lawn experts have a compaction meter so they can tell you how compacted your lawn is.

If you want to measure lawn compaction by yourself, the first step is to take a good look at your own lawn. Locate the areas which you think might be in the most danger of becoming compacted. Usually, those are areas near an entrance, along a path, area under the shade of a tree and similar areas you use a lot.

After you have located such areas, use a tool with a spike on one end, such as a garden fork. Try to drive it into the ground with your boot. If you have a perfect garden lawn (not affected by compaction), you will be able to easily drive the fork in, at least 6 inches. You won't have to use much weight at all, and you will even be able to drive the fork using just your hand.

However, if you can drive the fork in but you need to use a significant amount of weight, or if you have to lean on the fork and experience significant difficulty in driving the fork in, your lawn is compacted and it can benefit from aerating.

In case it's almost impossible to penetrate the soil, even the top surface of your lawn, then it's a serious situation and your soil is very aerated. This is when you'll need an urgent treatment to aerate your lawn. You will probably need to aerate it in the next six months to get it back to normal.

The best way to keep your lawn healthy, it's important to aerate your lawn regularly. This way, it's much easier to keep it healthy and not compacted. It will also keep the grass fresh and it will drain more easily. It will also prevent thinning and other problems with the grass.

Photo credit: wheatfields

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