Lawn Aeration

You can find a variety of tools to aerate the lawn, with different degrees of effectiveness. There are spiked sandals which strap to your shoes, punching holes in the yard while you walk around. There are also spiked rollers designed to puch holes in the lawn. If your soil is dense and compact, however, neither of these methods will be very effective. If the soil is too compact, these tools just will not be able to penetrate the lawn effectively. In addition, the holes made in the ground will be small, and not effective at allowing water and fertilizer into the lawn. The best tool for the job will be a core aerator.

Core aerators are available at your local rental shop. These motorized machines are probably the quickest and most effective way to aerate the lawn. A core aerator will pull up plugs of soil and grass from the lawn, about a half inch in diameter. These holes will effectively loosen soil, and provide a good path for the water and nutrients to penetrate the lawn. Along with the plug of soil, chunks of roots will also be pulled out, which will allow the remaining roots to grow back, healthier than before. If the soil in your yard is loose and sandy, you will probably only need to go over the lawn once. If the soil is more dense, you may need to go over the lawn twice.

Before you start, you should water your lawn, to loosen up the soil a bit. Don't just slightly dampen the yard, but at the same time, don't flood it. You want the soil wet enough to break apart, but not so wet that it becomes mud. Once you've watered the lawn, go over the entire lawn with the aerator. Go over the lawn once or twice, depending on the soil consistency. When you're done going over the lawn with the aerator, you can just leave the plugs where they are. They'll break up eventually, and dissolve back into the lawn. If you want, however, you can rake up the plugs and throw them away, but it isn't necessary.

After aerating, fertilizing, and watering the lawn, you'll see a difference. The grass will be able to grow where it couldn't before, and it will grown thicker and healthier.