Aeration
Optimize your soil!
Aeration is an important part of any lawn care program
In order for grass to thrive it must have sufficient amounts of water, air and nutrients. Soil compaction occurs naturally in a lawn and can be compounded by various types of traffic, the more compacted your soil becomes the less water, air, and nutrients are able to penetrate the soil. When this problem occurs in your lawn, its health is affected. Symptoms include discoloration, wilted grass, thinning of turf and can result in bare spots in the lawn.
Excess thatch will also keep water, air and nutrients from reaching the roots. Thatch is a layer of living and dead stems, crowns, roots and other plant parts in varied stages of decomposition. Thatch layers that are more than 1/2" deep create a woven barrier of decaying plant material between outside elements and the root system below. Symptoms are similar to those of soil compaction.
The best practice for both curative and preventive measures is to have your lawn aerated. Once a year is sufficient for most lawns, but you may want to aerate twice a year if your lawn sees more traffic, or has an excessive amount of thatch.
Fall is the perfect time to aerate your lawn. The grass is growing vigorously, there are not as many weeds to deal with and temperatures are mild enough so that the soil is moist and adaptable. Spring is the next best time to aerate. You will have to deal with more weeds, but spring aeration is otherwise as effective. If your lawn has been having a lot of trouble with soil compaction and/or excessive thatch I recommend aerating in both spring and fall.
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