Does your lawn have brown patches? It is spongy, and does it have thick thatch? If so, it needs a good aeration and overseeding! Throughout the year, everyday activities like mowing, kids playing on it, and simply walking across it will cause your lawn to become compacted, which prevents necessary oxygen, moisture, and nutrients from getting to its roots. Even soil that has been compacted ¼ inch can negatively impact your lawn’s health. Here’s what you need to know to aerate and overseed your lawn, so it can get back to feeling and looking its best.

 

Aeration

Aeration is the process of perforating the soil of your lawn with small holes so oxygen, nutrients, and water can get through to its roots. You might think that anything that will make holes in your lawn will work to aerate it, but stomping around on your grass in cleated shoes won’t do the trick; you need a plug aerator to do the job properly. These machines will remove the right size plug of grass and soil within the right amount of space.

Be sure to use the equipment correctly. Aerators are heavy and cumbersome, and if you’re walking behind one, you’re going to get tired quickly. This will cause sloppy navigation, which in turn will cause inconsistent aerating and inconsistent turf growth. Be sure that you lift up the tines at each turn; if you lift and spin the entire machine, you’ll only compact your turf more, which will cause bare spots.

Our WNC cool season grasses, such as Kentucky bluegrass and fescue, should be aerated in fall and spring, when they have the greatest chance to grow. Aerate after we’ve had a rain, when soil is slightly moist.

 

Overseeding

Once your lawn is aerated, you’ll want to overseed – this is simply scattering grass seed to grow and thicken your turf.

After you've aerated, apply a high-quality grass seed to your lawn using a lawn spreader. You can use a handheld spreader for smaller lawns.

Fertilize the lawn once it's overseeded. 

 

Follow Up Tips

After you aerate and overseed, you need to give your lawn time and space to heal and regrow.

Keep your lawn moist by watering about once a day or so. Once your grass has begun to regrow and gets a bit of height, you can go back to normal watering.

Don’t mow for the first 2-4 weeks, and stay off your lawn as much as possible. Cool season grasses like Kentucky bluegrass can take up to 4 weeks to mature.

Wait until grass is strong — mow it several times — before using weed control.

Did you know that Aeration and Overseeding is part of our Residential Maintenance Program? We can save you the hassle of mowing, trimming, bed maintenance and aerating and overseeding. Give us a call today to learn more!