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Chapter 9: Aeration
Requirements
As Bud and
Scott stood watching Bud's new oscillating sprinkler water his
budding Bermudagrass lawn, Scott remarked, "Your soil and lawn
are nicely aerated now-you shouldn't have to aerate again for
several months."
"Aerate? You mean, that thing your son
does with his spiked track shoes?"
"That's right,"
Scott nodded. "And you'll need to do it to your lawn,
too."
Much as you yourself would die if you couldn't
breathe, so will your lawn. Periodic aeration of the soil is
necessary for a healthy lawn.
Aeration, or core
cultivation, is standard lawn care. Aerating a lawn means
supplying the soil with air, usually by poking holes in the
ground throughout the lawn using an aerator. It reduces soil
compaction and helps control thatch in lawns while helping
water and fertilizer move into the root zone.
A lawn can be aerated at any
time the ground is not frozen, but should not be done when it
is extremely hot and dry. Heavy traffic areas will require
aeration more frequently.
Aeration is most effective
when actual cores or plugs of soil are pulled from the lawn.
Holes should be 5 to 8 cm (2 to 3.125 in.) deep and no more
than 5 to 10 cm (2 to 3.9375 in.) apart. Lawns should be
thoroughly watered the day before aerating so plugs can be
pulled more deeply and easily. Mark all sprinkler heads,
shallow irrigation lines, and cable TV lines before aerating
so those lines will not be damaged.
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On thatchy lawns, it is
important to leave the cores on the lawn, allowing them to
work back into the grass. Otherwise, the cores may be removed
or left on the lawn. Lawns may be fertilized and seeded
immediately after aeration. There is no need to top-dress
lawns following aeration.
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Did You Know?
You can cut down on the number of times
you have to aerate each year just by wearing your golf
spikes to do your yard
work.
| The build-up of
thatch makes it difficult for your lawn to breathe. Lawn
aeration performed in the spring or fall helps control lawn
thatch. The process of lawn aeration (sometimes misspelled
"airation") can be as simple as poking holes in the soil
throughout the lawn by walking over the lawn with spiked
shoes, such as golf or track shoes.
You should also
faithfully remove as much lawn thatch as you can in the fall
by raking deeply, rather than just skimming the autumn leaves
off the top of the lawn.
Lawn aeration also reduces
soil compaction, allowing water and fertilizer to permeate
into the root zone. Lawn areas submitted to constant foot
traffic require aeration more frequently. Lawn aeration may be
undertaken in the spring, as soon as the soil has thawed. But,
for lawns in cold climates, the fall season is better suited
for lawn aeration. If the soil is severely compacted, simple
lawn aeration methods such as that mentioned above may not be
sufficient. In such cases, go to a rental center and rent a
piece of equipment especially for lawn aeration, called the
"lawn aerator."
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This lawn aeration equipment
will pull "cores," or plugs of soil, out of the ground,
letting air in. These plugs should be 5 to 8 cm (2 to 3.125
in.) in depth. Such a plug should be pulled out of the lawn
approximately every 8 cm (3.125 in.) The plug-removal process
is facilitated by watering the lawn the day before, but don't
water to the point of muddying the soil. Likewise, if your
thatch problem is severe (say, 2 cm [0.75 in.] thick or more,)
rent a vertical mower from a rental center. Alternatively,
hire a lawn service to do the job for you.
Core Aeration
Core aeration can be a very
good way to improve the soil conditions for your lawn. Lawns
can become especially compacted when subjected over time to
repeated chemical fertilizer and pesticide applications.
However, there are times and situations in which a person can
be doing everything right, but aeration is still necessary.
This can very often be true for those people who have soil
with very high clay content. First of all, save yourself some
time and/or money. Make sure that aeration is needed before
you hire someone in or you rent an aerator.
The easiest way to check for
soil compaction (and, therefore, the need for core aeration)
is to use the previously-mentioned screwdriver method.
Try pushing the screwdriver into the ground up to the handle.
If this can be done without much pressure, you probably don't
need to aerate. If you find that lawn aeration is necessary,
core aeration is the best method. Spike aeration can be
helpful, but tends to be a more temporary method. Slitting is okay too. It
has the side benefit of de-thatching the lawn as well.
However, keep in mind that slitting also causes a certain
amount of stress to a lawn by ripping through the sod.* It's
not likely to kill the lawn, but the less stress, the better.
If you want to aerate and de-thatch, use a core aerator and
then apply a good liquid organic de-thatching solution.
The core aeration helps the
solution to penetrate better so that it is even more
effective.
Core aeration can also be
helpful before top-dressing a lawn. When top-dressing, the
main objective is to mix a good topsoil (or maybe some
compost* or sand) into the soil so as to break things up and
provide some of the beneficial nutrients and organisms that
the soil may be lacking. In light of this, it seems obvious
that aerating beforehand will provide much better conditions
for this mixing to take place since there will be holes for
the top-dressing material to drop into. In this case, as well
as when compaction is severe, it may be beneficial to aerate
in two directions (perpendicular to one another.)
NOTE: When
performing core aeration, don't worry about raking up the
cores. Let them sit on the lawn and dry out (unless you
absolutely can't stand the mess for a couple of days.) When
you mow the next time, you'll break up most of it, and nature
will do the rest over a short period of time.
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