Receive New Gardening Articles By Email (Free Introductory Offer!)
Just sign up below to receive our new gardening articles full of handy hints for your garden. Your email address will not be shared and you can unsubscribe automatically any time - but we don't think you will want to!
Note: This free offer may end at any time.
Newest Additions
More Gardening Info
Bonsai for home or garden
Gardening Articles
Gardening Ideas By The Barrowload
Aerate Your Lawn – To Give It More Life
See more in Garden Design
Water, nutrients, and air are critical to the health of the root systems of your grass. In highly compacted soil, however, they can have a hard time getting to the roots. Likewise, thatching is another typical lawn problem that can possibly end up choking the life out of your grass. If either of these circumstances persist, the oxygen and moisture will gradually get forced out of the soil. The plants and grasses in your garden will become increasingly frailer as they begin to starve and eventually they will whither and die.
It’s inevitable that at some point in time, even in the greatest of circumstances, that your lawn will become ever more compacted. Gardens are forever damaged by people, animals, equipment, and so on trampling over them. It’s inevitable that at some point in time, unless something is done, this will happen to your lawn as well.
To improve the situation, you have two main options open to you. As part of your fall/autumn lawn care, you can till the lawn which will be a big job, even in a small lawn. Or you can use a lawn aerator to create air pockets in your soil that will allow nutrients to reach the grass and plant roots.
Core aeration is an intense process of breaking apart your soil and creating pockets of air in it. Aeration creates deep, digit sized holes in your grass, as it relentlessly rips through the thatching and breaks up the ground. Core aeration is one of the most natural and healthful things you can do for your lawn to give it more air space and to ensure that it stays in good shape.
A manual aerator will do just fine, if your yard is small yard, But,if you also want to exercise and get a good physical workout, you can invest in a pair of yard aerator sandals. These are just sandals with spikes at the bottom. As you walk or run about your yard, you simultaneously punch holes in it. Children often find this fun, so if you don’t want to do it yourself, acquire a pair for your kids. They’ll love it. But any spiky type of shoes will do – even spiked golf shoes.
However, if you have a large yard, you might seriously look at taking a visit to your local garden center and either renting or buying an engine powered aerator.
But, buying or renting a garden aerator is not your sole choice. Many lawn care services already have aeration equipment and will be more than happy to provide this service for you. In fact, core lawn aeration is becoming so popular that many lawn care services offer it as a regular part of their maintenance plans. If the price is right, you may get more value for your money by going this route. Simply check with your neighbors and local garden equipment supply shop for references.
Companies that provide lawn care products are not remaining static. For the really lazy gardener, and in what sounds too good to be true, some companies have come up with spray-on lawn products that they claim will aerate and dethatch your lawn with no physical effort on your part what so ever.
Whichever route you end up taking, realize that periodically giving your lawn a good airing out, will not only improve its appearance but will help to keep it healthy for years to come.
Related Articles
No Comments »
No comments yet.
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Leave a comment
For Your Garden
Gardening Heaven
What's Hot
Don't miss your chance to sign up for our gardening newsletter - it's up there on the left!