Lawn Aerating

Over time, foot and vehicle traffic mash down the soil in your lawn, compacting all the particles. Even regular mowing takes a toll, and poor drainage and wet conditions make matters even worse. This situation poses a problem to lawns because compacted soil has far fewer air-filled pore spaces. Plants depend on those pore spaces to supply roots with much-needed oxygen. Compacted soil prevents roots from expanding, interferes with water filtration and disrupts nutrient uptake.

Lawn aeration helps alleviate this situation by creating holes in the ground, which allow air back down into the soil and create room for compacted soil to collapse back into a looser particle arrangement. In a way, lawn aeration is much like perforating a tough cut of meat prior to marinating it. The holes you jab in a flank steak better allow the juicy marinade to seep into the meat. Likewise, the holes in a freshly aerated lawn allow air back into the soil.

When the soil is properly aerated, there’s more room for roots to expand and for helpful microorganisms to go about their business. Rain and irrigation water is able to soak farther into the ground, and there’s less danger of runoff. Lawn Aeration allows a number of beneficial things to happen with the turf:

• Releases gases from the soil, letting oxygen in.
• Increases the amount of water to the soil and plant.
• Stimulates new root growth.
• Helps control harmful thatch buildup.
• Allow fertilizers and nutrients to move faster to the root.
• Relieves soil compaction caused by traffic and equipment.
• Reduces water runoff on slopes and hills.

Next to fertilizing your turf on a regular basis, aeration is the most beneficial thing you can do to improve the health of your lawn. Spring and fall are both goods time to aerate your lawn. Contact us to have your next lawn aeration done by the professionals at Eisentraut Lawn Care.