Periodic Aeration and Over-seeding Are Key to Perpetuating a Healthy, Green Lawn
One of the biggest favors you can do for your lawn in Colorado is to aerate and over-seed it. Aeration and over-seeding free up your lawn, allowing it to grow its best and absorb life-giving water, light and nutrients, remove bare spots and promise a lush, thick, green lawn to come. Though not complicated, the process does require special equipment and know-how. The experts at FitTurf.com are ready to give your lawn the aeration and over-seeding it needs so that your grass will get all the healthy benefits of nature and grow its best throughout the year, giving you a lawn that you can be proud of.
What is aeration? The term, also called core aeration, simply means to dig out cores or plugs of your lawn with a machine called a core aerator, which has a spinning drum with cutters that pull out small plugs of turf and earth from your lawn. Though this briefly puts small holes in your lawn, it provides many benefits. By drilling these little holes in your lawn and spreading small plugs of earth around, aeration provides more earth for seeds, fertilizer, water and air to adhere to. This makes your newly aerated lawn prime ground for reseeding, fertilizing and watering. The small holes soon fill in, covered with lush new growth.
Prior to aerating, your lawn must be cleared of weeds, either by hand pulling or with herbicides or organic means. Then it must be dethatched, usually done with a dethatching machine, a lawn-mower-like apparatus that removes the webs of thatch between the earth and your grass that can smother your lawn.
Then it’s time to haul out the core aerator. Depending on the size of your lawn, this can be a lengthy, laborious process and also one that requires some care and precautions. Care must be taken not to dig up underground utilities or sprinkler systems, for instance, because this machine digs into the ground. The core aerator will remove plugs of earth about 1 inch in length and spread them over your lawn, leaving small, 1-inch holes in your lawn 2 to 4 inches apart.
Now it’s time for over-seeding, because aeration has left your lawn in prime condition to grow new grass. Simply put, aeration increases the odds of successful germination for the over-seeding process, because the new seed will benefit from greater contact with the soil along with better access to fertilizer, air, light and water. After the over-seeding, the lawn should be watered often to encourage germination — at least every two days.
Aeration and over-seeding aren’t a cure-all for all lawn problems, but they’re a basic necessity for the care and upkeep of your lawn — a routine maintenance task that can result in greater life and performance at little cost — like changing the oil in your car on a regular basis. Experts agree that lawns should receive aeration and over-seeding at least once a year, though some recommend more frequent aeration.
and liquid aeration “Soil Tech” with micronutrients. Contact us for a free consultation to see which is best for you and your property.You could do this work yourself, of course, but that would mean the hassle of buying or renting a machine, getting it to your property and successfully operating it without damaging any of your utilities. Or you could call FitTurf.com and get a free consultation from its team of experts, locally trained to give Colorado and Michigan lawns the care and maintenance they need and deserve. FitTurf.com’s services include aeration, aeration with Revive, fall aeration with over-seeding