Aerating the Lawns
Early spring is a great time to take care of some of those lawn maintenance chores.
In order to achieve and maintain a beautiful and lush lawn, it’s important to apply basic lawn care practices such as mowing, fertilizing and watering. It’s also crucial to ensure nutrients can reach the soil beneath the grass. Aeration allows air and water to penetrate built-up grass or lawn thatch. Aerating a lawn can be done manually with a variety of tools, but depending on the size of the yard, it can become quite time-consuming. Gas-powered aerators reduce the time it takes to do this job. My outdoor grounds crew uses a Ryan walk-behind core aerator to cover all the areas of grass around the farm.
Here are some photos and tips for aerating a lawn, enjoy.
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- This is our Ryan Lawnaire IV walk-behind aerator. Because my lawns are quite large, it is much easier to use a machine specifically designed for this process.
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- This core aerator is self-propelled, which makes pushing and turning much easier.
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- The instructions for use are placed near the handle of the machine facing the operator.
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- The aerator is also gas-powered, which means it is not limited by the length of an electrical cord – crucial in large grassy areas.
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- This aerator has 30 steel tines, which remove small cores of soil from the lawn.
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- Here’s another closer look at what the aerator picks up along the way. All the excavated plugs are left alone to dry in the sun and crumble. The plugs can also be raked up after aerating.
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- Pete walks around the area to be aerated to pick up any twigs that could possibly get lodged in the tines.
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- It’s best to aerate the day after a good rain, so the soil is moist. Pete guides the aerator up and down the entire lawn, making sure he passes through every section of grass.
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- Core aerators help to enhance heat and drought stress tolerance, reduce runoff and puddling, and improve overall grass resiliency and cushioning.
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- Pete covers all the spaces near my houses first and then works his way through the various footpaths and lawns around my garden beds.
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- Here is a section of grass where the core aerator passed. The aerator removes soil plugs approximately two to three inches deep and about three inches apart.
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- Look closely and next to each hole, one can see the core of soil pulled.
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- Newly established sod lawns, lawns that get a lot of use, or lawns that dry out easily because of location, should all be aerated regularly.
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- Pete just finished aerating this section of grass between two of the horse paddocks.
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- And here he is in a large section on one side of the donkey paddock not far from the stable.
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- The main reason for aerating is to alleviate soil compaction. Compacted soils have too many solid particles in a certain volume or space, which prevents proper circulation of air, water and nutrients within the soil.
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- Aerating machines can be rented from lawn and garden stores or home improvement centers for minimal cost.
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- Here is the aerated grass in the fruit orchard. The aerator leaves a light path behind it, so it is easy to see where the machine has gone.
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- This is my “soccer field” lawn, where my grandson, Truman loves to play soccer whenever he visits. This lawn was also aerated.
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- Next, Chhiring over-seeds the lawns. Once Pete has gone through each space, Chhiring follows – everyone is able to work at safe distances from each other. Over-seeding will help to fill in any spots, and blend the new grass with the existing grass, so it all looks uniform. And, expected rains this week will give the lawn a good watering. Soon, the lawns will be even more beautiful and green. What outdoor spring chores are keeping you busy? Let me know in the comments section below.
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