Let’s discuss why you may need to aerate or overseed your lawn.
Homeowners with lawns adopt several actions, including mowing, pest control, aeration, soil testing, deep root feeding, irrigation, and seeding.
When to Aerate and Overseed
Specific maintenance procedures are only necessary when problems are noticed. In this article, we’ll be discussing lawn aeration & overseeding.
To fully understand the benefits of this procedure (aeration & overseeding), we’ll have to provide detailed information on what they entail.
In other words, you’ll find comprehensive information on lawn care as it involves aeration and overseeding. This way, there’s a better implementation of maintenance procedures.
SEE: How Much Does a New Lawn Cost?
Reasons to Aerate and Overseed Lawn
What do lawn aeration and overseeding help achieve?
One thing that’s never in doubt is that these processes benefit your lawn’s well-being. They both help with the robust growth of the property. However, these actions are only necessary when the need arises.
Speaking of the nature of the problem, lawns tend to become compact in addition to a steady buildup of thatch. When this happens, patchy growth is likely to appear across your property.
Compact soils are usually a result of high clay content.
As these soils become compact, they prevent sufficient aeration. In other words, there’s an insufficient oxygen supply to the roots of grasses.
Lawn thatch, on the other hand, is a situation where there’s an excess accumulation of dead roots, stems, and leaves above the layer of soil.
These tend to have a much slower decomposition rate than grass blades. Only around half an inch of thatch layer is needed for lawn grasses to thrive.
This is necessary to serve as a protective layer for roots. Beyond the half-inch thickness, thatch blocks proper air, water, and nutrient penetration.
These issues resulting from excess thatch accumulation quickly lead to several adverse conditions, including insect infestations and diseases.
To avoid any of these (soil compaction & excess thatch buildup), you’ll need to call for lawn aeration and overseeding.
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How Lawn Aeration Works
Any number of activities can lead to soil compaction. These include construction activity, heavily trafficked areas, and soils with more clay content.
Your lawn becomes affected when the soil gets compacted. This requires taking appropriate actions like aeration to loosen it.
Mechanical aerators are the tools of choice for most contractors. Also called core aeration, this procedure involves the deployment of specialized machinery that helps cut holes into lawn turf.
Choosing the correct type of aerator for the job is essential, as certain types might not serve your needs.
Two common types are available; hollow tine and solid tine aerators.
The hollow tine is the most efficient for lawn aeration jobs. As the name implies, the recessed aeration technique has multiple pipe-like teeth that create holes in affected soils.
Moving the machinery across affected areas helps decrease soil density by loosening compacted sections. This automatically allows better penetration of water, nutrients, and air, thus helping to improve the germination and growth of grasses.
Due to lawn aeration, relying on herbicides to combat weeds is unnecessary. The new growth of grasses stimulated by aeration helps choke out weeds.
This provides a natural solution to your lawn issues.
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How Lawn Overseeding Works
As the name suggests, overseeding is introducing new grasses to existing turf. This is especially vital as it serves to combat scanty grass growth.
Also, more disease-resistant grass varieties are introduced into lawns to help eliminate diseases and pest activity.
Before implementing these lawn treatment techniques, the time of year and hardiness zone is crucial.
This is where the help of a professional becomes necessary. Also, the grass species are to be used for overseeding matters.
Best Time to Aerate and Overseed Lawn
Would you like a healthy and dynamic lawn with a lot of lush and thick appearance?
Well, that doesn’t happen naturally. Certain practices need to be cultivated to maintain and boost the aesthetic appeal of your yard.
These practices go beyond mowing, watering, and fertilizing. Overseeding and aeration are the planned treatment we’re talking about.
While these treatments seem to be the best way to keep your loans in good health, knowing the right time to perform such operations matters significantly.
This write-up is yours if you have no clue when it’s the best time to aerate an overseed lawn. We will provide the best month and season to complete these practices and why.
Let’s go ahead with our talk.
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Best Season / Month To Aerate and Overseed your Lown
As noted previously, aeration is one of the proper operations you can employ to keep your lawns healthy.
However, the appropriate season to treat your lawn relies on a few factors—your location and kind of grass. Warm-season and cool-season are the two suitable kinds of fodder for properties.
Warm-season grasses are often grown in the warmer and southern US. The appropriate season for such operations on warm-season grass is late spring or early summer.
During these periods, warm-season grass grows more actively.
Months you can envisage carrying out such operations are around April, May, and June. This means warm-season lawns are treated earlier than cool-season lawns.
If you live in the Midwest and Northern US and grow cool seasonal grass, early spring is the suitable time to aerate and overseed. This is because the ground is damp.
Stagnant growth reappears, and new growth blossoms. The eight months to carry out this action are around August and September.
When should I not aerate or oversee my lawn?
There is no wrong season or month to aerate or overseed your lawns.
These treatments can take place anytime within a year. However, as indicated above, there are better times to carry out these actions.
Have we answered your questions? If yes, give us thumbs up.
A suitable time to aerate an overseed lawn will refresh your property and create an environment conducive to effective growth.
DIY Vs. Calling a Pro
Lawn aeration and overseeding procedures need to be done right. Without proper execution, you’re unlikely to achieve your desired goal.
What more? Your lawn’s condition is likely to become worse. To avoid these situations, you’ll have to choose your approach carefully.
So, which is better, the DIY or professional approach? People always have their unique preferences when it comes to lawn aeration and overseeding technique.
DIY enthusiasts will always find this approach preferable to any other.
However, there are several downsides to adopting the DIY approach to lawn aeration and overseeding. One of the most apparent disadvantages is the level of experience.
Persons without the proper knowledge might be unable to do a good job even when a guide is provided.
There’s also the need to hire the right equipment. Buying a lawn aerator machine will cost a lot more than hiring one.
However, if you’d rather a professional handle your lawn aeration & overseeding needs, you only have to call them.
Calling the pros tends to be a more convenient approach. Plus, the job is professionally done with a higher likelihood of getting desired results.
Does my Lawn Need Aeration and Overseeding?
Sometimes, figuring out what actions to take isn’t as obvious or straightforward as you think.
The lawn’s condition needs to be assessed. A property professional must be called for a closer inspection to determine why your yard is patched.
At the end of the assessment, several solutions are recommended. The solution recommended largely depends on the level of damage as well as the nature of the problem.
Before you call for an inspection, you can perform a simple test to see if your soil has high clay content.
Soils with higher clay content tend to form a lump when squeezed or compressed by hand. Those without high clay content won’t bind together as the former.
However, this is only a fundamental way of finding out but doesn’t give complete things.
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Regular Lawn Maintenance will help.
You’ll need to call for regular maintenance to keep your lawn in good condition.
This helps prevent patchy areas from appearing by ensuring improved aeration. Also, consult with the pro on ways to improve routine maintenance.
Your lawn’s condition can be significantly improved through aeration and overseeding. We’ve discussed what these procedures are and what options you have.