Spring Aeration!!

[fishersofmen]

Its still not too late to do a Spring aeration. We will be doing them through the end of May. In my opinion this is the best thing you can do for your lawn!! This should be done every year for a quality lawn and to minimize disease, insects, thatch, and compaction. Also keeps your lawn several degrees cooler during the Summer months and much better water absorbtion. IMO an aeration is more important and more beneficial than fertilizer and is often overlooked. Start plugging.....

[hotrod1]

Aerating now is fine if you haven't put down a crabgrass preventer. The only problem with aerifying this time of year is it makes for a good spot for weed seeds to germinate...but if you keep up with fertilizer, the holes will fill in quick.

[fishersofmen]

If you aerate the pre-emergent isn't going anywhere. Just plugging some holes not removing anything. To me there would be no difference if you did it before or after.......

[hotrod1]

That may be true. But to me, if i were to spend the money on a preemergent application and also want aerification done in the spring, I would definately aerify first. I would feel like I wasted money trying to prevent crabgrass by poking hole in the barrier it makes. Just my opinion.

[MuleShack]

Agree with Hotrod,

We always Plug first then put down the Granules.

[fishersofmen]

Just remember rain is constantly washing things around, weather there are holes before or after........

[hotrod1]

That would be true if we could actually get some rain.

[fishersofmen]

It would be nice wouldn't it.....really hope this summer doesn't end up like the last two.

[LwnmwnMan2]

That would be true if we could actually get some rain.

This was what I was going to say as well.

We're at the point that we're going to start skippikng some accounts next week, no sense in mowing the grass into dirt in May.

[fishersofmen]

We were talking about the same thing today at work. Thats the one thing you can't control in this buisness, the weather. Its not a good sign when lawns are starting to brown up in May. We had to shut down all the fertilizing today because of the wind. I was spraying trees yesterday which wasn't easy. Just seems like its one thing after another. Its too dry, or too wet, or too windy and on and on.......

[Powerstroke]

That may be true. But to me, if i were to spend the money on a preemergent application and also want aerification done in the spring, I would definately aerify first. I would feel like I wasted money trying to prevent crabgrass by poking hole in the barrier it makes. Just my opinion.

This is 100% dead on.

Part of the business I used to do also involved root injections for trees and we had several properties that had crabgrass popup in a perfect grid pattern matching where the applicator poked a hole for each injection.

Part of the point of pre-M is the vapor barrier and if you punch a hole in that vapor barrier and pull out a plug then you are creating a hole for weed seeds to germinate. Its the same logic why not to dethatch or rake heavily after applying your Pre-m

I would never advise someone to get yearly aeration unless they had a tremendous thatch layer or very clay or compacted soil that needed work. If your yard is not in need of it, you will see no benefits. Common cultural practices like mowing height, sharp blades and watering will do miles more than aeration.

I'm not saying its bad, I'm just saying it has its place.

[LwnmwnMan2]

You opened a can of worms now Powerstroke.

[fishersofmen]

Can of worms open...Lol Sounds like you've had some strange experiences with the deep root thing. We deep root trees at dozens of properties and have never had that problem. The difference in logic between a dethatch or rake job is you are removing alot of grass. With an aeration you aren't removing anything. Like I mentioned before after you apply a pre-emergent in order for it to work it must be watered in. If there was no such thing as rain or water and this product didn't need them to work then your theory could make sense. But because it is always raining and moving the stuff around the first place it is going to go is back into the holes. Shoot the holes probably end up being more protected because that is where everything drains. Whether there are holes in the ground before or after this will not make a any difference. Yes it has been dry but it will still get watered in many times. People seem way to overly nervous that these products are extremely sensitive and you can't walk on it, sneeze on it, look at it or it won't work. We put our product down and trust that it will work, and it always does. We do over 100 aerations in the Spring and in 15 years have never timed out to do them before we put down pre-emergent. We have never had one problem. As far as not aerating every year that is totally fine. But if a lawn is very healthy that means it is thick. A thick and healthy lawn builds up thatch very easily. If you have a thin lawn that doesn't look great an aeration would be unneccessary. You don't NEED to change the oil in your car every 3,000 miles either. But if you do you will see far less issues down the road. If you don't aerate every year you will have far more problems such as thatch, disease, insects, and a higher water bill because your lawn won't absorb water nearly as well. It is a matter of waiting for problems or preventing them.

P.S If we were to take a 10ft by 10ft area and spray it with crabgrass control and go in a week later and punch a bunch of 2 inch holes in it, water it a couple of times over a week period and then do a soil test for the product where the holes were and everywhere else, what areas do you think would test the highest for the product??? I rest my case.

[LwnmwnMan2]

Personally, I'm with Powerstroke, and my opinion has been chastised before.

[FISHINGURU]

do your aerations in the fall right before you put down seed...thats the only way to go!

[fishersofmen]

Thats why I love this forum.....everyones opinion gets chastised, whether you are right about something or wrong. And everyone always thinks they are right of course. It is a clashing of minds. All comes down to people have different experiences I guess.

[LwnmwnMan2]

Nah, I just mentioned in the past that in my 20 years of maintenance, I've aerated 3 yards total.

I just don't understand the part about relieving compaction, when 90% of people's yards aren't even hardly used.

That unless you're playing a ton of touch football games, or have the neighborhood kids at your yard all the time, that you're not really going to have it.

As well as the thatch problem, that if you healthy yard, with the right fertilizer as well as moisture applied, you shouldn't have any thatch. SOME thatch is a good thing as well.

Yes, I understand the thoughts and beliefs of aeration, and if you're having issues it will certainly help with trying to alleviate some problems.

But the same thing could be said with topdressing a yard with a decent sand / peet mixture yearly, to help with drainage, and if you mention that to people they think you're nuts.

To just automatically say to areate your yard regardless, is about as good as automatically doing a blanket application of herbicides before the droadleaf weeds are up.

People don't understand why I won't do that either.

[fishersofmen]

People have different experiences for sure. Like you and many others they would say its almost never necessary and that is okay. We probably service close to 1,000 customers. Of those we aerate around 200. Obviously the majority choose to not do the service, many simply can't afford it but many don't believe its necessary. All I can say is for the ones that do they swear by the difference it has made and I have seen it for myself. This isn't a shot at you LM2, but having only aerated 3 yards in 20 years it may be that you just haven't had the opportunity to really compare the difference between a lawn that is aerated yearly and one that isn't.

It is true I am just some guy that works at a lawn care company who just has thoughts and beliefs. So here is just a small part of of one study done at Kansas State University by a turfgrass specialist where they have studied and researched the matter. I'm sure there are hundreds more like it.

A healthy root system is a must for an attractive lawn. Oxygen in the soil is vital for healthy roots. Aerating improves rooting by allowing air into the soil. Healthy roots are necessary for healthy lawns. Roots make up 90% of the grass plant. Roots take in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide. Restricted air movement into the soil reduces health and vigor of the turf. Aerating equipment mechanically improves the movement of atmospheric air into the soil and carbon dioxide out of the soil. It allows water and other nutrients to seep into the soil, encouraging new root growth and establishing a stronger, deeper root base for a lusher, healthier turf. Another benefit of aeration is the reduction of water runoff and puddling. All of these factors help the turf establish a deeper root base, making the lawn more heat- and drought -stress tolerant. It is best to aerate once or twice a year on a continual basis. It takes 3 consecutive years for the lawn to see full effect. How often to aerate depends on the type of soil and the amount of use. Clay soils with a lot of use need to be aerated twice a year. Other soils with less activity should be aerated once a year. If there is excessive thatch build up, aerate more than twice a year. Aeration is an important part of a lawn care program. For best results it should be incorporated with a total lawn maintenance program. There are typically no physical signs to indicate that a lawn needs aerating.

This is a couple of paragraphs from multiple studies proving the effects and benefits of aerating. As you can see aerating has alot more benefites than just reducing compaction. The main benefits are at the roots, the area where sharpening mower blades and fertilizer don't do enough. Like I said before start plugging!!

[wishing for walleyes]

I just bought an aerator to pull behind my mower.I will see in the next couple of years if it helps my yard.Funny how when i only had a push mower i mowed it down to the dirt trying to turn the grass brown.Now that i have a rider i spend money to keep it green.Great topic here with all good opinions.