Do You Really Have to Aerate Your Lawn in the Fall?
Just like any other living thing on the earth, your lawn has basic needs for survival: food, water and air. And although you could neglect to aerate your lawn in the fall and not really deprive your lawn of these 3 survival necessities, aerating your lawn in the fall can truly make it easier for your lawn to get the most benefit and efficient use of those three elements. If you don’t have time to aerate your lawn because fall is a very busy time for your family, we understand. Just contact AllGreen Landscape Company at (703) 992-8787 and we can take care of lawn aeration and a fall fertilizer application too. Here’s why aerating your lawn once a year, as part of lanscape design services, is an excellent way to encourage a lush, healthy lawn when spring comes back:
1. Aeration Prevents Soil Compaction
If you and your family spend a lot of time on the lawn, or it’s been a long time since the last aeration event, then chances are, the soil under your lawn has become compacted, which can put your lawns roots at risk of disease, fungus and stress. When the soil is compacted, water, fertilizer and air have a harder time getting down to the roots where your lawn needs it. This means a fresh fertilizer application may just run off in the next heavy rain and not nourish the roots much at all. It can also mean that not enough water reaches the roots to keep them growing deeper and stronger. This makes them vulnerable to heat in the summer or drought any time of the year. Aeration punches a lot of evenly-spaced holes in the lawn, creating space where air, water and fertilizer can easily get to the roots and encourage strong growth, both in the roots and in the blades.
2. Aeration relieves thatching
Thatching is a problem similar to compaction, but it mainly refers to the layer of decomposing matter that naturally occurs just on top of the soil and below the grass blades. Some species of grass tend to encourage a heavy thatch in this layer, which can also prevent water, air and fertilizer from reaching the roots. Bermuda and Kentucky Bluegrass are two species of grass where thatching is particularly common and problematic. If you notice puddling or run off during rainstorms where the soil under the grass should be soaking up the water, this can be a sign of thatching. This is another problem that a yearly fall aeration session can help to solve.
3. Timing Aeration Just Right
Aerating the lawn can cause stress if it’s not done at the right time for the right species of grass. Also, if your lawn is already under stress, you need to get the timing just right too. Fall is a very good time to aerate most lawns here in the Northern Virginia area, but it’s important to understand the species of grass in your lawn. Cool-season grasses do very well with a fall aeration session, whereas warmer-weather grasses actually prefer aeration in the late spring. In both cases, aeration needs to be timed during a rapid growth period for the lawn, which allows the lawn to quickly recover from any stress the process might cause. It’s also important to aerate the lawn while it’s a little damp. The process is smoother and quicker and causes less stress on the lawn than trying to do it on dry soil.
4. What to do After Lawn Aeration
After the lawn is aerated, you can apply the last layer of fertilizer and weed control for the fall and it will get right into the roots where it needs to be. It’s fine to just let the plugs of soil removed by the aerator stay in the lawn where they will break down and continue to feed the lawn over the winter. If you have bare spots that need to be re-seeded, this is also a good time to take care of that.
For assistance with any of your pressing seasonal lawn care activities, or to ask about your lawn’s overall needs just contact AllGreen Landscape Co. in Chantilly: (703) 992-8787.
We do not consider a job complete until you are completely satisfied.