Aerating your lawn can be beneficial to help nutrients, air and water reach the soil. After repeated lawn mowing, the soil can become compacted and build up a layer of grass clippings, known as thatch. When thatch begins to build up, your grass can suffer and become thin. This can even prevent further growth from spreading. This expert lawn care tip helps you understand when to aerate your lawn and why it may be needed to keep your lawn looking fresh and well groomed.

Why Should you Aerate Your Lawn?

Aerating your lawn can allow water and nutrients to overcome these obstacles and bring fresh new life to your yard. Aeration will puncture the soil with small holes to make way for the types of elements that your grass needs to survive. This process makes it easier for your grass to soak up water, air and, better absorb nutrients from fertilizer.

Many types of lawns can benefit from aeration, here are some signs that yours may be one of them:

• Animals, children or vehicles are often bringing heavy traffic into the yard.
• Your lawn is impacted by heavy thatch. Thatch can be caused naturally, but some factors may cause thatch to form more rapidly, including over watering, over fertilization, and infrequent mowing. Heavy thatch causes poor water and nutrient penetration and promotes insect infestations. If your thatch layer is thicker than 1/2 inch, aeration is recommended.
• Your neighborhood has heavy clay soil.
• There are more puddles present than usual after a rainstorm.
• You have trouble putting a stake or screwdriver into the soil.

Know When to Aerate Your Lawn

Determining when to aerate your lawn will depend on the type of grass your lawn has. The reason this is an important step in knowing when to aerate your lawn, is because it determines how the grass produces energy through photosynthesis. Getting the timing right can help you aerate when the grass has the most root growth. Warm season grass is more prevalent in Texas because of the climate. Common types of warm season grasses in Texas are Bermuda grass, St. Augustine and Zoysia grass. Even though these grass types are common, it is still important to know which type of grass you have, in order to get the best results.

• • Aerating warm season grass is most successful when the weather starts to warm up. This will occur in late spring or early summer.
  • Aerating cool season grass is most successful when the weather starts to cool down. This will occur during late summer or early fall.
  • Although there is an optimal time to aerate, core aeration can be done at any time of the year if the soil is overly compacted and/or thatch layer is excessive.

The key to knowing when the timing is right is avoiding times of the year that have less drought or heat waves. Aeration can help at any time during the year, but following these guidelines will help you get the best results out of aerating your lawn. If your lawn suffers from heavy thatch buildup or clay soil compounds, Lawn & Landcare recommends scheduling lawn core aeration one to two times each year to ensure it utilizes nutrients and water effectively to look lush and beautiful. Learn more about our lawn aeration services throughout the North Dallas area or contact us for a free consultation today.