As Independence’s largest landscaping company, we at TLC Nursery & Outdoor Living take great pride in helping residents and business owners achieve exceptional landscaping and lawn maintenance. Regardless of the size of the job, we leverage our experience, expertise, and passion to enhance the beauty of your outdoor space. As you know, there are many components to lawn care and maintenance—fertilization, mowing, irrigation, and seeding, to name just a few. In today’s blog, we would like to focus on just one of our key services: lawn aeration. If your Independence home or business is in need of any landscaping or lawn maintenance work, do not hesitate to contact us today! View our services and schedule your appointment.
In order to achieve and maintain a beautiful lawn, it is essential to not only employ basic practices like mowing, watering, and fertilizing, but for optimal health and appearance, it is also key to make sure the soil beneath your grass is receiving the nutrients it needs. One key way to accomplish this is through lawn aeration—the process of removing small cores of soil to reduce soil compaction and promote root growth and, therefore, healthier grass.
What is Lawn Aeration?
The primary goal of the aeration process is to alleviate soil compaction. When soil is overly compacted, this prevents air, water, and nutrients from freely circulating within the soil. By perforating the soil with small holes using an aerator you can remedy this problem.
Benefits of Lawn Aeration
- Stronger grassroots
- Enhanced air exchange between soil and atmosphere
- Improved soil water uptake
- Promotes thatch breakdown
- Boosts lawn resiliency and cushioning
- Strengthens tolerance to heat and drought stress
- Reduces soil compaction
- Decreases water pooling
Do I Need Lawn Aeration Services?
As Independence’s go-to lawn care professionals, this is a question we get quite often. Though we encourage you to contact your lawn care experts to confirm your assessment, your lawn is probably a good candidate for lawn aeration if you notice the following:
- The soil is tightly compacted because of heavy use—playground, racetrack, heavy foot traffic, etc.
- Your lawn is relatively new—perhaps it is part of a newly constructed home, which likely means the topsoil has been stripped or buried, and the grass has been compacted by the moving of heavy equipment.
- Your lawn was layered with sod overtop of existing coarser soil. This is a practice that can disrupt drainage and lead to compacted soil and poor root health and growth.
- The soil dries out extremely quick and has a spongy feel. This could indicate an excessive thatch problem. Furthermore, if you notice that your thatch layer is greater than one-half inch this, could be a sign that it needs to be aerated. Not sure how make this assessment? No problem! Contact us and we can check it out for you!
Can I Do It Myself? If So, What Kind of Aeration Tools Are Right for Me?
Yes, you can absolutely perform your own lawn aeration service. Lawn aeration is not a difficult lawn care practice. However, it does help to have a good general understanding of the process, goal, and appropriate equipment. There are primarily two main aerating tools—a plug aerator and a spike aerator. Both tools can be quite effective. However, plug aerators tend to be more user-friendly and efficient. Plug aerators remove plugs or little cores from the lawn, while spike aerators use a solid tine to poke holes into the ground. Simply poking holes into the lawn is less effective because it can actually cause additional compaction by not removing the plugs of soil.
When looking for the right aeration tool for you, search for a machine that removes plugs that are approximately two to three inches deep and about two to three inches apart. Aerating machines can be rented by many garden centers and lawn maintenance companies. If you are in the Independence area, you can always contact us! We’ll not only make sure that it’s done properly but that it is also done in the most minimally invasive way possible.
When Should I Aerate My Lawn?
Most home lawns benefit from at least one aeration a year. For heavily used lawns or lawns grown on hard clay, aeration services should be performed at least twice a year. The best time to aerate depends on the type of grass you have and the climate in which you live. For example, cool season turfgrass, like Kentucky bluegrass, is best to aerate in the fall and spring. Warm season turfgrasses, on the other hand, like zoysia grass or bermudagrass, are best aerated between mid-spring and summer. Again, if you are unsure about when to aerate your lawn, contact your lawn care professionals!
Where Can I Find Lawn Aeration Services?
If you are in the Independence, Kansas area and are in need of aeration services, contact TLC Nursery & Outdoor Living. We are a full-service lawn care team poised to handle all of your turf problems. Also, to ensure that your lawn is in optimal health and appearance, we can also perform seeding, dethatching, fertilization, weed control, and a range of other services. Contact us today to learn more or to schedule your appointment!
Last year our team responded to over 50,000 service calls, and with each one of these calls, we aimed to provide the type of attention and care that you would expect from a lawn care company who has just one client—you! This is something you can expect when you partner with us.