5 Reasons Why You Should Avoid DIY Lawn Aeration

It feels good to tackle a home improvement project yourself. It’s good for self-esteem, can save you money and gives you something to brag about when you have the neighbors over for a cookout.

Maybe you’ve been thinking about renting one of those lawn core aerators to spruce up your lawn. Fall is a great time to aerate, to rejuvenate your lawn for spring.

First, you get points for knowing your lawn needs aeration. It’s a crucial part of keeping a healthy lawn.

But this is one of those jobs best left to the lawn care service team. To get it done right, well, the process is far from a walk in the park.

With that said, let’s take a closer look at lawn core aeration, why it’s important for your lawn and why the pros have a leg up with this particular chore.

Understand The Need For Lawn Aeration In New York And Connecticut

Over time, soil and the underlying thatch of your lawn can become compacted, which can seriously affect your lawn’s ability to thrive.

What’s thatch? It’s a loose, intermingled layer of roots, dead and living shoots and stems that develops between your green turf and the soil surface. Thatch build up begins when turf produces organic debris faster than it can be broken down.

As soil compaction starts to happen over time and thatch builds up, your soil can’t breathe. That means the roots of your grass won’t be able to absorb nutrients or water from the soil. So slowly, over time, your lawn dies.

What’s A Lawn Core Aerator?

A lawn core aerator is a machine with sharp tines that perforates the soil and removes plugs of soil, thatch and grass, leaving small holes to allow air, water and nutrients to penetrate the grass roots. This helps the roots grow deeply and produce a stronger, more vigorous lawn.

Lawn aeration will improve the flow of water, oxygen and nutrients through the soil. It also encourages grass to grow roots deeper into the ground. That makes them tougher, more able to last through the winter and survive abrupt climate changes like storms and droughts.

Bottom line: A properly aerated lawn means a noticeably healthier and stronger turf.

Why You Should Avoid DIY Lawn Aerators

Sure, you could rent a core aerator for about $100 a day and tackle the DIY project yourself. But it’s a better idea to hire a landscaping professional.

Here are five legitimate reasons to avoid aerating your own lawn and leave it to the pros.

The Machine Is Cumbersome

These things are heavy. You’ll sweat, struggle and be sore the next day. Do you really want to boost the cost by adding on a visit to your chiropractor?

Lawn Care Professionals Have Better Equipment

The core aerators you rent work solely on gravity. You push them across the lawn. Hit a rock or an uneven patch of ground and the machine will bounce and careen off track, taking you with it.

Professional core aerators are sleek $12,000 machines equipped with hydraulics that do a smoother, more accurate job.

You Might Not Dig Deep Enough

If the ground is dry or your rental machine veers off course, the tines may not reach the recommended inch and a half depth needed to extract long enough plugs of earth.

The hydraulics of a professional machine ensure a deep enough cut.

Lawn Care Pros Know The Best Time To Aerate Your Lawn

Figuring out when to aerate a lawn can be tricky. It depends on a lot of different factors, including type of grass and type of soil. Cool season grasses have different needs than warm season grasses. Clay soil needs lawn aeration more often than sandy soil.

Some say a lawn needs to be aerated no more than once every two to three years. Others believe aeration should be an annual task. Some swear by fall aeration, others say spring is best.

You should avoid lawn aeration when the soil is too wet or too dry. You should also avoid it if you have weed problems — it will just make it easier for the pesky things to take hold.

Confusing? Not for professionals like the ones at Neave Lawn Care. We know all about these things.

They Also Know Extra Tricks

The pros will do things you might not think of — like ask about the location of any underground sprinklers, then marking them with small flags to avoid any expensive damage.

They know, for instance, to aerate when your lawn is moist to make the process faster and simpler. Or that very compacted areas need more than one pass with the aerator for best results.

After Lawn Aeration, Don’t Forget to Overseed

The best thing to do after aeration is overseeding.

Start by poking holes so you can drop seeds in and, once watered, the seeds will start to germinate. Boom! Nice new grass in the spring.

Leave Aerating Your Lawn To Neave

Neave Lawn Care can examine your soil to see whether lawn aeration services are needed. We have the tools, the professional staff and the know-how to do the job right.

Neave Lawn Care’s specialists take the time to analyze and inspect your soil quality each time they visit, so they know the best time to aerate your lawn.

If you’re a homeowner in the Hudson Valley, call us at (845) 463-0592. If you’re in Westchester County, call (914) 271-7996; from Connecticut, dial (203) 212-4800. Or, fill out our contact form, and we’ll contact you about setting up your free consultation.

Lawn aeration can be a laborious task, especially if you have a large property. We’ve got the professional staff and cutting-edge aeration tools to handle any job.