Lawn Aeration in Spring

Core Aeration is an Integral Step in Achieving a Lush and Beautiful Lawn

It will not be much longer before neighbourhoods are alive with the sights and sounds of homeowners cleaning their gardens and readying the lawn for the growing season.  After a long, cold winter, regardless of the amount of snow that may have accumulated on the property, a true sense of spring is in the air when homeowners begin to remove their gardening tools and equipment from storage in the garage or the backyard shed.

With respect to lawn care in the early spring, considerable emphasis is often placed on the following activities:

  • Raking
  • Dethatching
  • Top Dressing
  • Seeding and Fertilizing
  • Lawnmower Maintenance

However, there is one rather important contributor to achieving a lush and beautiful lawn that is frequently overlooked – core lawn aeration.  This is the action of perforating or basically poking small holes in the lawn to remove plugs or cores from the soil below; in about a month or so, these plugs will simply disintegrate back into the lawn.

Core aeration offers a number of benefits for both the health and appearance of a lawn. These primary benefits consist of the following:

  • Alleviates or relieves soil compaction
  • Helps in the management of thatch build-up
  • Stimulates a more vigorous lawn through deeper root growth
  • Provides better penetration of water, air, nutrients into the soil

There are several circumstances for which lawn aeration is highly recommended – these will include:

  • Mature lawns, particularly if the property also has mature trees
  • Soil compaction due to heavy use of the lawn (by family and/or pets)
  • Newly-built homes – soil base is often compacted by construction vehicles
  • Dried out lawns – excessive thatch likely preventing water/nutrient penetration
  • Lawns established via sod – sub-soil is often compacted and inhibits root growth

An Aerated Lawn in SpringA preferred time for lawn aeration is during the most active stage of the growing season, when the lawn is best able to heal, so to speak, and fill in those small perforations/holes.  Ideally, this would take place in early to late spring as part of the homeowner’s overall lawn care activities during this season.

Do-it-yourself homeowners can certainly rent the appropriate equipment to perform their own lawn aeration; however, this might not always be practical or economically feasible unless several families are willing to share the cost and effort on the same day/weekend.

To alleviate this coordination of effort, as well as the physical labour, homeowners may choose to utilize the lawn care and maintenance services of a professional landscaping contractor such as Landcare.

Lawn Care Services to Help Improve the Health and Appearance of a Property

In addition to core aeration, Landcare offers several lawn care services from the spring through the fall.  These include but are not be limited to:

  • Raking/dethatching
  • Fertilizing and seeding
  • Weekly mowing/trimming

Furthermore, as part of their overall lawn care services, the Landcare team can provide valuable insight and suggestions on ways to improve the health and appearance of a property through such means as:

  • Soil Tests
  • Fertilization
  • Soil Conditioning
  • Additional Plantings
  • Organic Applications
  • Landscape Design or Redesign
  • Wood and Natural Stone Construction

Give your lawn the boost it needs for the coming growing season.  Call the landscaping professionals from Landcare today at 416-410-0320 to schedule a core lawn aeration and to discuss our complete range of lawn care and maintenance services.