green lawn – Rolling Lawn Aerators – Making Light Work of Lawn Aeration

Thursday, May 27th, 2010 at 6:42 am

There is nothing more special to a land owner then having a lush green lawn. It is the understated crowning glory of any green-thumbed enthusiast's efforts and most gardeners are secretly prouder of their lawn than any other part of their property. Lawns take a fair amount of work and effort and also thorough and regular attention to issues such as dressing, leveling and aerating which need to be done before the lawn's true beauty comes to the forefront. For this reason, using gardening equipment such as rolling lawn aerators is essential.

One part of your lawn care regimen that should not be neglected is aeration. With time, your lawn, or typically the top 4 inches of soil and thatch, will become compacted and hard which can have a seriously negative effect on the overall health of the lawn.

This compacted condition impedes the flow of water and nutrients through the critical top structure of the lawn and many problems attributed to bad fertilization, watering, or insects are actually a result of this compaction.

Lawn aeration addresses these problems by loosening this compacted layer and allowing oxygen, water and nutrient access to the top layer. Aerators of all types work on the same basic principle of driving spikes or tines into the top layer of the lawn at regular intervals.

This aeration process can be carried out in several ways either by using a mechanical aerator, by using a garden fork (only practical with very small areas), or even by using spiked shoes. One of the best options for most residential property lawns is the rolling lawn aerator.

Rolling lawn aerators are usually pushed or towed behind a vehicle and consist of a drum or axle that has rows of spikes attached to it. As the aerator moves across the lawn, the drum presses the spikes into the lawn and pulls them out again through the circular axis that the drum travels on. This effectively cuts a groove into the lawn and loosens the compacted soil.

There are two basic types of lawn aerators. These are spike and core aerators. As previously mentioned, the spike aerators simply drive spikes or tines into the lawn whereas core aerators have hollow pins that are pushed into the soil and actually remove a "core" of thatch and soil. Many lawn professionals are of the opinion that core aerators do a better job than spike models and that normal spike aerators may even exacerbate compaction problems.

Either way, any regular loosening of the thatch layer of your lawn is sure to provide benefits and improve the general condition of the lawn. Lawns should be aerated either in the fall or the spring depending on what type of grass the lawn is made up of. Cool season grass types should be aerated in the fall and summer grass types should be aerated in the spring.

Lawns take a lot of work and with tools such as rolling lawn aerators these tasks can be made considerably easier. The results of these efforts are well worth it and with a little care and attention your lawn will be your property's crowning glory.

Al Smitty is a writer who loves to discuss many topics ranging from walk behind aerators to American football. Thanks for reading!

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