Tips on aerating a lawn

Lawn enthusiasts will go to great lengths, not to mention expense, to work on the top surface of their lawn but totally neglect, and in many cases fail to understand, what is necessary below ground to keep the grass roots healthy and aerated.

We can imagine the shopping trolleys at the garden centre full of autumn lawn feed, Sulphate of Iron to combat any moss and perhaps some soil and seed to reinstate low and bare patches where the grass may have failed through the year but I somehow feel that spiking is not on most lawn owners to-do list.

Sadly, lawn aeration - some prefer to call it spiking or tining - is the very last thing that gets attention.  Maybe because it is a procedure that will not create an instant effect or tangible result in a short space of time. 

There are many benefits from aerating your lawn and it is one mechanical task that should be performed throughout the autumn and winter months - in fact monthly throughout the year unless the weather and lawn's surface is very dry and hard.

Aeration should be treated as a proper and essential maintenance procedure which is as important as scarifying or fertilising; aeration is integral to overall lawn performance and a lawn will green up and respond almost instantly after aerating a lawn.

Sadly, many a lawn treatment company insist on only hollow tining a lawn instead of using a solid tine.  A hollow core should and must be removed from the surface of the lawn so don't let them leave them on the surface as the practice is technically wrong for many reasons.

Related Topics

Autumn Fertiliser

Soluble Iron for Moss Control

Why we aerate our lawn

Lawn Worm Casts