Lawn Core Aeration
Core Aeration - Lawn Aeration - Plug Aeration

What is Lawn Aerating?

Aerating is the process of removing small plugs of soil from the turf. Core aerators are the best types of mechanical aerators because they remove the soil, rather than pushing soil back in to the ground. (That is what those little lawn-aerating shoes do.) Lawn aeration is one of the keys to healthy lawn maintenance.

Is Lawn Aerating Necessary for a Healthy Lawn?

Absolutely, yes! There is a right way to aerate and a right time to do it. Aerating is part of maintaining a healthy lawn. Our service professionals can advise you accordingly but the information below is how to do it right if you choose to do it on your own.

How does Aerating help your Lawn?

Plants need oxygen as much as they need carbon dioxide, but they need oxygen in their root areas. As people walk, play football or practice swinging the golf club on their lawn, they compact the soil, squeezing it together and removing spaces that oxygen normally fills. Plants use oxygen when they metabolize (break down) the sugar they store from photosynthesis. Without oxygen for this process, plants will literally starve. In addition to improving oxygen availability for plants, it also improves life for soil organisms. Lawn aeration allows water to filter more consistently through soil, and helps reduce problems with thatch.

When to Aerate Your Lawn

Depending upon how much foot traffic the lawn in question gets, you may need to aerate more than once a year. You always want to aerate when the lawn can grow and heal itself from the process. Aerating a lawn disrupts plant roots and is stressful to the plants in the beginning. It is best to aerate in the spring and fall—when the plants are actively growing, and it is not too hot. Warm season grasses grow most during the hot summer, so aerating during the summer works well for them. Disrupting the plant roots will interfere with their ability to take up water and recover from the aerating process. Aerating mid-summer requires more careful observation of moisture levels.

How to Aerate your Lawn

It is not a bad idea to hire a professional with a punch-core aerator to aerate the lawn for you. Most equipment rental places do not have core-aerators that actually remove the core. Before the professional arrives, however, you need to do some prep-work. Mow the lawn to a slightly shorter height and give the lawn at least one inch of water two days prior to aerating. This will loosen the soil and help the lawn recover. After aerating, continue giving the lawn 1 inch of water twice a week.

Aerating your lawn at the right time with the proper equipment can ensure that you have a beautiful yard, every season of the year.

The benefits of core aertation:

  • Increasing the activity of soil microorganisms that decompose thatch
  • Enhancing water infiltration from rainfall and irrigation
  • Improving root growth
  • Increasing water, oxygen and nutrient movement in the root zone
  • Helping to prevent run off of fertilizers and pesticides

Benefits of Core Aeration


We will develop a personalized plan and schedule for your lawn care maintenance and landscaping needs. For more information contact us or call 614-547-5700 today.

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TIPS AND INFO
Soil core aeration is one of the best things you can do to create a healthy, thick and robust lawn.
Be careful of shallow sprinkler lines getting punctured by the aerator.
Water your lawn heavily, up to an inch, the day before you plan on aerating. The soil should be soft and moist when aerating but not muddy.
Aerate in the Spring or late Summer or Fall. In arid / dry climates aerate twice a year.
Don't waste your time or money with shoe aerators.
Whenever possible, use a coring aerator as opposed to a spike aerator. Spike aerators just further compact the soil while making a hole.
After core aeration, leave the plugs on the grass and allow them to dry out, then rake the plugs into the grass if you like. It's OK if you don't as they will break up after the first mowing and help to breakdown thatch by providing micro organisms that will feed on thatch.
Aerate the highest traffic parts of your lawn most frequently. Heavy foot traffic can make soil practically impermeable, and lawn aeration can go a long way to solving high-traffic-area problems like slow growth and low resistance to wear and tear. Lawn aeration can make particularly weak lawns vulnerable to weeds, though, so consider applying an herbicide at the same time you aerate.
If you don’t aerate your lawn’s soil, your grass roots will tend to weave themselves into each other instead of growing downward into the soil.



Ohio Lawncare Company services Bexley, Blacklick, Columbus, Delaware, Dublin, Gahanna, German Village, Johnstown, New Albany, Pataskala, Pickerington, Polaris, Powell, Sunbury, Upper Arlington, Westerville, Worthington, and all the Central Ohio surrounding areas.