Lawn aeration is key for maintaining a healthy and robust lawn.
If you desire a beautiful lawn, you can’t forget about lawn aeration. Aerating can sometimes be overlooked as a crucial lawn care treatment that can help pave the way for healthy grass that can withstand drought, disease, and everyday wear and tear. What is lawn aeration? This treatment makes holes in your lawn by either pushing short spikes into the turf or extracting small soil plugs, known as coring. Aeration helps oxygen, nutrients, and water reach the turf roots and soak into the soil. Lawn aeration also helps break up thatch and loosen compacted soil for long-term lawn health. If you’re interested in lawn aeration, contact the professionals at Scientific Plant Service to learn more.
Why Your Lawn Needs Aeration
Mechanical lawn aeration alleviates soil compaction in established turf, encourages root growth by increasing oxygen to roots, and allows seed, lime, water, and fertilizer to more easily enter into the soil.
Compaction occurs primarily in the soil surface. A compacted layer as thin as one-fourth to one-half an inch can significantly impede water infiltration and gas exchange between soil and atmosphere.
If you don’t routinely aerate your lawn, the soil hardens and resists absorbing fertilizer, rainfall, and supplemental irrigation. As the soil becomes tighter, grass becomes less and less robust.
Thatch Can Compound the Problem
Thatch is the intermingled layer of living and dead stems, leaves, and roots that exist between the soil and green vegetation. A thin thatch layer (¼-½ inch) provides some benefits, such as surface cushioning, increased wear tolerance, and temperature moderation. Excessive thatch (1 inch or more) can cause various lawn problems. A moderate thatch layer is beneficial, as it insulates the soil from sunlight and reduces water evaporation.
Excessive Thatch:
- Prevents water and air from reaching the soil and root zone, thus reducing the turf’s tolerance to drought and temperature extremes.
- Provides a protective home for insect pests (billbugs, chinch bugs, and sod webworm larvae) and disease fungi.
- Prevents certain insecticides and herbicides from penetrating the soil level, making them ineffective.
- Interferes with overseeding.
The Long-Lasting Benefits of Lawn Aeration
The immediate result you can enjoy when you aerate your lawn is loosening compacted soil. Once your soil is loosened up, you can start to enjoy the following benefits of healthy grass:
- Turf roots can penetrate and spread more easily in the soil, forming the network they need to withstand summer heat and drought.
- The openings in the soil and thatch allow oxygen to permeate the grass root zone. Oxygen helps prevent the spreading of fungal diseases and can enhance the growth of microorganisms that digest thatch.
- Aeration permits fertilizer and water to reach plant roots, contributing to healthy growth.
- Thick, healthy turf can more easily withstand pest attacks and weeds and gives your home a boost in curb appeal.
If your lawn needs some help, lawn aeration may be just the thing to get it back to better health.
Scientific Plant Service Is Your Go-To Source In Landscape Healthcare
Scientific Plant Service, located in Baltimore, is a privately owned corporation, chartered in Maryland in 1957 by Frank J. Burke. We started as a full-service Arborists specializing in the care of shade trees and ornamental shrubs, but today we are a Lawn Care company that is a huge part of the community. From aquatic environments and snow management to deer and mole control, SPS has services tailored specifically for your lawn and landscape.
We offer services in Maryland, Washington, DC, and Virginia, including: Harford, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Howard, Anne Arundel, Montgomery, Prince Georges, Talbot, Queen Anne’s, Calvert counties in MD, as well as Loudoun County, Fairfax County, Arlington, Alexandria, and Falls Church in VA. For more information, contact us online, or call us at 410-321-0970. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.