Summer is officially over and it is time to concentrate on lawn recovery to ensure your grass returns with full force next spring. The best methods to accomplish this include dethatching, aerating and over-seeding your lawn.
If your lawn’s failure to thrive is due to compaction, you will want to aerate it. If thick thatch is the problem, you will instead need to dethatch your lawn.
Aeration, coring, and aerifying are different terms you might hear for the same procedure. A core aerator removes plugs of soil from your lawn, which helps loosen compacted soil and allows vital air, water, and nutrients to reach the roots. The aeration process should be performed carefully and well planned. Our equipment removes the right amount of soil and our experts will take the most efficient approach for you yard.
When to Aerate Your Lawn
You want to aerate when your grass is in its peak-growing season so it can recover quickly -- think- early spring or fall for New England grasses. We recommend fall aeration combined with overseeding as the weather enhances the germination process and gives time for your lawn to grow tall and healthy. If you have high-traffic areas or heavy clay soil, you will want to aerate every year. If you have sandy soil or your lawn is growing well, you can aerate every 2-3 years.
Thatch is a layer of living and dead grass shoots, stems, and roots that forms between the green grass blades and the soil surface. Some thatch (1/2 inch or less) is actually beneficial; it acts like mulch to provide insulation from temperature extremes, helps keep moisture in the soil, and provides a protective layer of cushioning. However, when the thatch layer is more than ¾ inch thick, it can lead to increased pest and diseases problems (and reduce the effectiveness of some fungicides and insecticides), and reduce the amount of oxygen and moisture that are able to reach the soil and grass roots. When this happens, it’s time to dethatch your lawn. Dethatching removes this thick layer of decaying plant material so air, water, nutrients, and fertilizer can reach the soil better, plus your lawn can drain more effectively.
The lawn should be dethatched when it is actively growing and the soil is moderately moist. The best time of year for dethatching is the same as for aerating: early spring or fall. That's when your grass is growing most vigorously.
Indian Hill Property Care can help you choose the best solution for your lawn! So put your lawn and garden tools away and let us take all the “work” out of your yard work and mulching so you can spend more time doing what you enjoy!
The weather, kids, and pets can be tough on lawns. Lack of water, too much heat, wear & tear, and other problems can make it look worn and thin. You can help reinvigorate your lawn by overseeding. In our area spring and fall give you the ideal conditions for cool-season grass seed: cooler temperatures and more moisture.