Aeration

Regular aeration is integral to maintaining a healthy lawn. There are several types of aeration that we carry out for our clients throughout the year; hollow tine aeration and solid tine aeration – both highly beneficial at different times of the year.

What are the benefits of aerating a lawn?

A vital air exchange happens when removing thousands of small cores from the lawn or creating thousands of slits. Oxygen, vital for root growth, gets into the compacted layer and carbon dioxide, so harmful as it inhibits the passage of water to the roots, escapes.

Regular aeration is integral to a lawn as it

• Relieves surface compaction
• Increases microbial activity
• Improves air movement in the lawn
• Allows water to soak into the profile during dry periods
• Encourages new root growth
• Prunes the roots improving depth and thickness
• Improves nutrient uptake
• Reduces the build-up of thatch
• Improves the infiltration rate of water into the soil
• Improves drainage
• Helps strengthen your lawn’s resistance to weeds, moss and disease

What is hollow tine & solid tine aeration

Best performed in the spring and autumn, hollow tine aeration is the process of removing thousands of cores from the lawn. It is the most effective way to release compaction (usually occurring 2-3 inches below the surface) and an integral treatment for a lawn. It is also used to exchange a poor quality of soil, allowing you to topdress with a more suitable product that with help improve the soil structure and dry the lawn up.

Solid tine aeration works in the similar way without removing a core. Compaction is still relieved and dressing can still be applied however if the soil is of good quality it may not be necessary to remove it.

Why is compaction a problem?

Imagine laying a 3 inch thick turf on your patio or driveway, how far down will the grass roots be able to spread? Lawn compaction poses the same issues for grass roots. Over time your lawn will become compacted through traffic and mowing, causing the particles of the soil to squeeze together. Compaction drives air out and as a consequence root development becomes stifled, poor root development below the surface results in poor grass plant development above the surface.

How do I know my lawn is compacted?

Usually it is hard to push a cane or something similar into the ground. When it rains the lawn will flood quickly and stay wet for longer periods due to the pore spaces being compacted together meaning the water cannot infiltrate quickly enough.
In some of the wetter areas you may have a black layer within the soil and when you dig into it the soil smells of sulphur.