Search This Site

Search With Google

How To Aerate

Lawn Aerator

Moisture Meter Guide

The complete moisture meter website

A lawn aerator is an essential garden tool that has been designed to aerate the soil in your lawn where your grass grows. This process is called lawn aeration. What lawn aeration basically is a process done by the gardener to break up the surface of a lawn for the purpose of allowing oxygen, water and nutrients to penetrate the surface and soil levels to reach the root zone of the grass. Aerating also helps reduce the compactness of the soil to allow grass to flourish.

If you need to re-seed an area of the lawn then aerating also provides an ideal seed bed. And last but not least a lawn aerator also helps the gardener in his quest against thatch build up which can be read about on a previous page in this site. The lawn aerator is a simple tool of simple design, yet plays a huge role in producing and keeping a lawn in pristine condition.

Moisture Meter Guide 2010                                                                                               Contact details:garnett65@hotmail.com

Types Of Lawn Aerator

There are both manual aerators and power aerators. Manual aerators are tools that you personally supply power to. With them you are pushing the hollow tines into the lawn in a similar method as using a garden fork. The hollow tine will cut a plug or core and you pull it out of the lawn. Using a manual lawn aerator ensures a complete and thorough job, though it does take more time. One advantage of a manual aerator is that it is able to function in small areas or areas that cannot be reached by a larger aerator.

Manual aerators on the other hand power themselves and all you need do is steer them in the right direction. When it comes to selecting a power aerator avoid the ones that only make holes in your lawn without removing plugs. They are of less value to your lawn.

If you are going to do a job, do it properly we say. The best way to aerate a lawn is to remove plugs from it.

Small power aerators are very similar in size and appearance to the average lawn mower. They use a rotating action to push the covers into the lawn and extract small cores as the machine moves on in a forward motion. This type of lawn aerator can be purchased from any decent garden supply store or be rented by the day from a tool hire specialist

Aeration can also be called core cultivation. It is an extremely important process that needs to be carried out by any gardener on their lawn. What aeration does and achieves is to allow the grass roots to penetrate the soil more deeply, allows fertilizer and organic matter to reach the roots, allows necessary oxygen to hit the roots and provides an easier environment for any water to soak in to the soil properly.

You need to avoid using your lawn aerator in summer months as you may actually damage your lawn, especially if it is already stressed. Instead plan to aerate your lawn once a year in the Autumn. But do avoid time periods when there are weeds about and flourishing. Aerating then will just cause further weed infestation.

A lawn aerator will penetrate your lawn to the best of it’s capabilities when the soil is moist. So the day before, always water your lawn thoroughly. When it comes to using the lawn aerator the best method is to make several passes in several directions all over the whole lawn. After you will see that you have a lawn covered in soil plugs that the lawn aerator has extracted. Break these up using a rake or something similar and spread them evenly over the lawn. If you are planning on adding a top dressing to your lawn after using the lawn aerator then simply break up these core plugs and mix them in with the top dressing.

Aerating can be done in several ways. One method is that of core aerating. This entails using hollow tines or forks to pull out a plug from the lawn. The hole that is left is the entry point for any nutrients, air or water to enter deep down in to the lawn. The plug that is pulled out can be either broken up and spread over the lawn or broken up and mixed in with a top dressing.

Another method of aerating is done using solid tines. With this process no cores are removed. The surface of the lawn is still penetrated and nutrients, water and air can enter the soil. However this is a less effective method than the core removal process. And in certain cases a solid tine can actually increase the compactness of the soil which is not a good thing.

Summary Of The Lawn Aerator

To Care Is To Share

Lawn Aerator Tips

Be observant and keep your eyes open for shallow sprinkler lines. The last thing you want to do is puncture one.

Before you use a lawn aerator you should water your lawn heavily the day before. This should ensure that the soil is moist and soft. This will make your aerating easier and more effective.

The times to use a lawn aerator are Spring, late summer and Autumn.

If you have a dry climate you need to aerate twice a year.

You can choose the type of lawn aerator that you use. If you can always use a coning aerator in preference to a spike aerator. The thing with a spike aerator is that it simply adds compactness to the soil when making a hole.

If you use a cone aerator you should leave the plugs on the grass to dry out properly. Then rake them in to the grass.

There are not many people who do not enjoy looking or sitting in a beautiful and lush outdoor area. For those lawn lovers of you out there, there is a very strong connection between green grass and perfect relaxation. In fact in green areas outside are extremely inviting to walk upon, sit or play. It is a connection with nature and the personal satisfaction of creating your own perfect outdoor space is immense. Much work has to be applied in the creation of a green oasis, but the end results are worth more.

The lawn aerator, along with the lawn scarifier and garden roller, is an important garden tool to the lawn lover to help build the foundations of a lush and green lawn that can be both enjoyed and relished. When used properly a lawn aerator will create an environment in which grass can grow and flourish. What the aerator does is make holes in the ground so that water, air and nutrients can get in to the soil and revitalise it. This in turn provides a healthy base for grass to feed and deep root. The results being healthy grass with a fantastic appearance. A good way to think of this is to compare it with a human being. A human on a good diet looks healthy and fit. One that eats poorly tends to look unhealthy. Feed your grass properly and it will thrive and be healthy. Simple as that.

Soil types vary in different parts of the country but lawn aeration is effective regardless of soil type. Healthy grass needs good nutrition and plenty of water. The aerator creates holes in the ground which loosens the soil and allows water and nutrients to move freely and do as they please. By also aerating you lawn and freeing up the soil makes it easier for earthworms to move around. This means that they can naturally do their part in helping your grass to grow

Organically.

The simple method of checking to see if your lawn needs aerating is to take a sharp instrument such as a screwdriver and sticking it in to the ground on a dry day. If the screwdriver goes in to the ground easily with no effort from you then the chances are that your lawn is in very good shape and does not require aerating yet. However if there is much resistance to your screwdriver then it is likely that your soil is too hard and any water and nutrients will not be able to get in to it. Instead the water and nutrients will simply roll off the soil and wash away. And what a waste this is! But irrespective if your soil is hard or soft it is still recommended that your aerate your lawn at least once a year.

If you have a small lawn then you need only have a simple lawn aerator. Something like lawn aeration shoes will do the trick. You wear these shoes and simply walk around on your lawn. The spikes on the soles of the shoes will penetrate the soil and allow aeration. They are very cheap to buy and give you some exercise.

If your lawn is large then you will be better served by a rolling lawn aerator or a manual aerator. There are no rules as to which one to use. It is purely down to personal preference. They can be either purchased or hired by the day. But it is usually the size of the lawn that is the deciding factor as to which lawn aerator you select. And of course if it is too much work for you to handle then you can take the professional landscaper route and pay someone to do the job for you. A manual lawn aerator can be hard work and result in a lot of blisters.

But the most important thing for any gardener who wishes to have a fine and pristine lawn is to actually ensure that the lawn is aerated. This must be done without fail to ensure that your grass receives all the assistance and diet it requires.