The lawn gives your home character. The lush green grass adds to the appeal of your front and back yards. Lawn aeration involves making tiny holes in the ground to fix the soil’s dwindling porosity and allow free circulation of water, oxygen, and vital nutrients to the roots. This aeration enables your lawn to ‘breath,’ and it grows healthier, thicker, and greener. When the grass does not have to struggle for air and nutrients, it can develop to its full potential. A specialized aerator or spiked shoes are some of the equipment you can use for soil aeration. More challenging aeration jobs may require core aeration.
A healthier lawn
Soil aeration guarantees you a healthier lawn. Making punctures in the soil allows for air, nutrients, and water to penetrate and reach the grassroots. Soil aeration not only fixes the foundation of the ground but also makes it richer in all aspects. With a stable soil support system, the grass can become more resilient as it grows. Poorly aerated soil deprives the grass of its necessary ingredients for growth, causing uneven stunted growth, poor coloring, and in some cases dying out of your lawn sections. This unhealthy grass robs your property of its possible appeal and instead makes it have an awful appearance.
Better aesthetics
Most people grow lawns for their natural aesthetic appeal. The secret behind such good looks is soil aeration. Better aeration ensures that your grass stays healthier. Healthier grass generally looks better, and this will give your home’s lawn that pleasantly green look. You can consider aeration a solution if your grass starts to dry out in individual sections and become dull colored. A yard with poor aesthetics looks awful and gives your home a careless aura. While the results may take some time to be realized, you will slowly begin to realize the benefits of soil aeration.
Occasionally
Soil aeration is not a daunting task and does not need regular doing. Occasional aeration allows the soil to retain its natural compaction and the grass its natural looks. Experts recommend that you carry out lawn aeration at least once a year. Soil aeration varies from place to place. For areas with more compacted soils, it may require to be done a few more times. Properly aerated soils do not require this much effort. Sandy soils may only require aeration after every two years.
Soil compaction
Compacted soils cannot effectively sustain grass growth. They reduce the amount of oxygen, water, and nutrients going into the ground. This compaction deprives the grass of its much-needed nutrients. The grassroots are also unable to reach deeper into the soil for more formidable growth. When soil is heavily compacted, it also tends to retain a lot of water. This retention can be a bad thing for your lawn as it suffocates the grass and keeps it from growing to its full potential. Waterlogging on your property may result in uneven growth of grass. Soil compaction usually manifests with a few signs, such as the formation of puddles, fast-running water on your lawn, shallow-rooted trees, and bare areas with no vegetation, thinning grass patches, stony soils, and claying.
Easier fertilizer application
Lawn aeration helps you realize the full potential of applied fertilizer. Fertilizer has a hard time going into poorly aerated soils. This blockage keeps the added nutrients from reaching the roots. Applying fertilizer to such soils could result in wastage. The fertilizer stays on the surface.
Run-off water carries all this fertilizer away, keeping you from realizing its utility. Professionals recommend that you use fertilizer 48 hours after soil aeration for the best results.
