What is Aeration?
Aeration is a naturally occurring process in which air exchanges between soil and the natural atmosphere around it.
If it's natural, why should I pay for the service?
Well, natural aeration takes a lot longer. Not only that, but it might work well in a grassy area you don't regularly mow. But in a typical lawn where mowing occurs on a regular basis, you get a built-up layer of thatch. Thatch is the dead, mulched up grass, that has been cut that building upon the surface of the dirt. This thatch layer and slow the process of aeration. Not only that, but most lawns are "high traffic" areas. and this causes soil compaction. This also makes natural aeration slower and less effective. This is why to have a healthy lawn you should have your lawn mechanically aerated at least one to two times a year.
What is Mechanical Aeration?
Mechanical aeration is the process of running a machine across your yard. This machine either has solid spikes that essentially poke holes into your soil or has hollowed-out spikes. The hollowed-out spike pulls out little plugs of soil leaving small holes in your soil and spreading the plugs across the top of your lawn to redistribute the soil.
Our preferred method is this hollowed-out spike method. Because it also greatly aids in preventing soil compaction which can also be detrimental to your grasses root system.
This mechanical aeration allows oxygen, water, and nutrients to get to the roots of your grass faster allowing your grass to have a healthy root system in turn, giving you a greener, fuller-looking lawn.
Well, if you're going to poke holes in my lawn, is it safe to walk on afterward?
Yes! The plugs we will be taking out of your lawn will be no bigger than a pinky finger. So you can't fall down in them, and in a matter of a few days, the soil around it will begin to fall and crumble back into the holes. This is part of the process that de-compacts the surface soil.
So I have decided I want my lawn aerated. Now what?
Now that you've done your research and realized the benefits of getting your lawn aerated you have a couple of options. You could go out and buy a personal aeration attachment for your ride one mower or a stand-alone machine for anywhere between $300-$1000 and do it yourself. Of course, then you're going to have to store that machine somewhere in your already full garage and for a machine, you're only going to use it one to two times a year, that seems a little much. Then when the missus complains she can't park in the garage during the winter because you have too much stuff in there, you will have to deal with that headache. Not to mention the standard market equipment doesn't last that long and may require yearly maintnenece. In that case, you could spend even more money and buy a commercial setup as we run on our crews. Not to mention, you have to make sure you take the extra time to aerate your lawn.
