Happy Roots Lawn Aeration

What is core aeration?

The mechanical removal of cores or plugs from the soil in a turf grass lawn. These plugs are typically 2-3.5 inches long depending on soil type, moisture, compaction, and the amount of thatch buildup. These plugs contain soil, roots, thatch and of course grass. Please see the animations of lawn aeration on this page.

Benefits of Aeration:

Pulling plugs from your soil allows air, nutrients (from water and fertilizer), water, and soil amendments to penetrate deeper into the root system of your turf grass.
Aerating your lawn relieves compaction of your soil. Compaction of soil is caused by pets, kids playing in the yard, snow, mowing, sports, etc. Any traffic, weight or even water will cause compaction. We have a lot of clay soil in the Denver Metro area and it becomes very hard when compacted because of it's small particle size. When the soil is compacted it does not absorb water, air or fertilizer very well, most of it runs off. This is why it is important to aerate, and use soil amendments like our EZ Wet Wetting Agent to get water and nutrients deeper into your soil.
Your lawn aeration will break through and reduce the layer of thatch that can build up in your yard. Note: Power raking is not recommended on most types of lawns in the Front Range area to help with thatch reduction. A regular aeration schedule and proper watering are the best defense against thatch.
When you aerate your lawn it assists fertilizer penetration deeper into the root zone.
Aeration creates pores that will hold a lot more water allowing less runoff.
Aerating improves your lawns soil profile by distributing organic matter and breaking it down over the top layer of your lawn and soil.
Core aeration encourages root penetration, resulting in a thicker, greener and more drought resistant lawn. Lawns with deep root zones can fight off drought and disease much easier than lawns with shallow root zones or with surface roots (Thatch) which are a result of over watering.
"Yes" - Leave the plugs on the lawn if you can put up with them for about a week or two. The plugs act as a top dressing that will encourage micro-organism activity that breaks down the layer of thatch and improves soil quality and profile. Otherwise you can rake them up and use them to fill in low spots in your grass, or use the soil in other landscape projects. The other option is to mow them up, but don't forget to have your mower blade sharpened when your done.

When Should I Aerate?

A lawn aeration can be performed on your yard anytime from March 1st through early November. If you have it aerated in the hot part of the summer you will just have to make sure that you don't let your grass dry out, maybe even water it a little extra for a couple of weeks. The more you can aerate the better. Most lawns will do very well aerating once in the spring and once in the fall.

The important thing to remember when deciding on a time to aerate, is deciding if you can get some water on the lawn before it gets aerated and after. Watering before the aeration will result in deeper plugs, making the aeration more beneficial to your lawn. Watering after is important because it gets the fertilizer started that is usually applied during the aeration, because it helps break down the plugs that are left on the lawn, and if you have aerated during a time of the season when it is hot, the water will cool the exposed root system in the holes. So just make sure that you are ready to water, put down fertilizer, soil amendments, seed etc., before you aerate, because if you are planning on doing any of these things the aeration will get everything where the grass needs it....in the roots.

How to prepare your lawn for an aeration.

When you have your lawn aerated, you will need to mark your sprinkler heads with flags so the aerator will not hit and damage them. Happy Roots is not responsible for broken heads that are not marked clearly. You will also want to water your lawn generously the night before your aeration. The wetter the soil, the bigger the plugs will be that the aerator pulls out. But, don't water too much. Too much water will make it mushy and that will just make a mess.

When your aeration is done, it is better for your lawn to leave the plugs. They will disolve on their own through watering and mowing. These plugs act as a top dressing, improving soil profile and helping to eat away at thatch through micro organisms. If you have low spots in your yard you can rake some of the plugs into these holes to fill them up. Some people prefer to rake the plugs up completely, to avoid the mess that plugs can create. This is O.K. also.

**We will not aerate lawns that have invisible dog fences, since it is very hard to locate these and they can be very time consuming to fix. Thanks for your cooperation!

Make the most of your aeration.

Food - There are 3 major needs your lawn requires to stay beautiful. Air, Water and Food. Now that you have increased the air to your roots by aeration, it is the best time to feed your roots with some nutrient rich fertilizer. The fertilizer will go down into the holes from the aeration directly to the roots of your lawn. You should put down a total of 4 pounds of nitrogen per 1000 square feet of lawn, every year in Colorado. When you divide that up into 4 applications, it comes out to 1 pound of nitrogen per application.

There are 3 major needs your lawn requires to stay beautiful. Air, Water and Food. Now that you have increased the air to your roots by aeration, it is the best time to feed your roots with some nutrient rich fertilizer. The fertilizer will go down into the holes from the aeration directly to the roots of your lawn. You should put down a total of 4 pounds of nitrogen per 1000 square feet of lawn, every year in Colorado. When you divide that up into 4 applications, it comes out to 1 pound of nitrogen per application.

Soil - Now would be a great time to add soil amendments (i.e. EZ Wet, Revive, compost, and mixes of compost,mulches and fertilizers). For the same reason as the fertilizer and water, the thousands of the little holes from the aeration will allow the soil amendments penetrate deeper into the soil, placing them directly into the area you want. This is especially important in new lawns that were not prepared properly when installed. If the installation of your turf grass was not properly exececuted, then you will struggle when the heat of summer comes with brown spots due partially to poor soil conditions and probably a sprinkler system that does not cover properly or is not on a reasonable watering schedule.

Seed - If you are planning on having your yard aerated, then you might consider over-seeding it at the same time. This will help you take advantage of cool weather and moisture in the spring and the fall. The reason that moisture is important is that in order for grass seeds to germinate they must remain moist for 7-10 days. On the other hand they need heat to germinate also. So a late April or early to late May aeration, over-seeding, fertilizer and soil amendment, would be a great way to restore your lawn to it's full potential. But this would do no good without proper watering practices for the rest of the season, which you will learn a little bit about in the next segment.

Water - The last and most important need your lawn has is Water! Without water, the aeration and the fertilizing will not help your lawn at all. Putting down the right amount of water on your lawn is very important. A lot of people set their sprinkler clocks in the spring and leave the same time on them the entire year. Since the water needs in your soil change throughout the spring, summer and fall, the time on your sprinklers needs to be adjusted accordingly.

A good starting point in the spring is to put 7 minutes on the pop-up spray zones, and 15 minutes on the rotor zones of your system. Put in 3 start times 3 days per week, preferably in the early morning hours (from 2-8am). Using shorter watering times on each zone with more start times, gives your soil a chance to absorb all of the water you put down without it running off into the gutter. An example would be watering at 3:00am, 4:30am, and 6:00am on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Make sure you leave enough time in between start times to get through all of your zones. If you have 6 zones that require 1.5 hours of watering time to get through all of them, then make sure there are at least 1.5 hours in between start times. As the temperatures warm up add another day, and to keep your lawn green in extremely hot temperatures, you may have to give your lawn a syringe cycle to cool the canopy of your grass during the hottest time of the day. A syringe cycle is very short in duration, maybe 5 minutes per zone.

On the other end of the spectrum, it is not a good idea to over water. Over watering will create more thatch, deprive the roots of your grass from oxygen, and cause problems like fungus, mushrooms and mold. Another good habit to get into, is to shut off your sprinkler system when there is sufficient rain or snowfall. A good way to test the moisture level in your grass is to grab a medium sized flathead screwdriver, stick it into your soil, and if it goes in to the soil about 6 inches with not much effort then your soil moisture is just right. If it is hard to push in, your lawn is too dry. If you step on your lawn and water squishes out of the sides of your shoes then your soil is saturated and too wet.

Mowing - Another maintenance practice that is very important is mowing. A healthy lawn should be mowed at least once per week. In the spring and fall there may be weeks when your lawn needs to be mowed twice a week. If you wait and cut too much off the grass it will turn yellow and may take a couple of weeks to recover.

If you stick to these simple maintenance practices, your lawn will flourish, and when your lawn is healthy and full you will have very few weeds, and you will use less water. When your lawn looks great you have Happy Roots!

For more information call Les @ 303-457-8300 or e-mail Les@ColoradoHappyRoots.com