Aerating Your Lawn By Hand

How to aerate a lawn.

Aerating your lawn by hand. Thoroughly water your lawn a day or two before you begin the aeration process. A lawn care professional explains how and why to aerate a lawn including what tools can be used for the job and how to properly use t. You are required to hold the handle using both hands so that you can drive it into the soil. This soil type needs aeration as it tends to.

The grass is starting to change color or look unhealthy. With a spike aerator you simply use the tool to poke holes into the ground with a solid tine or fork. Apply at least one inch of water. The best method of manually aerating your lawn is done using a manual core aerator this is a tool designed with a handle and a foot bar.

It is difficult for water to sip below the surface when watering. Two main aerating tools exist a spike aerator and a plug aerator. This will help with the number of weeds growing in the springtime. Aerating is the process of punching small holes all over your lawn.

Things needed hand aerifier with tube hollows 1 4 to 1 2 inch in diameter or spading fork lawn watering device optional tape measure or ruler lawn rake optional wheelbarrow or basket optional. The day before aerating your lawn apply 1 inch of water to the lawn to soften the soil. The most effective type of aerating is with a gas powered machine called a core aerator that pulls out small cores of grass and soil. How do you decide whether your lawn needs aeration.

Other aerators use short spikes to punch holes in the turf. If you live where heavy clay soil is the norm annual aeration is probably needed to keep your lawn from becoming thin and weak. In areas where the soil is too compacted the foot bar offers extra leverage. Make sure to mark any sprinkler heads or shallow irrigation septic or utility lines so that you won t accidentally run them over.

For lightly compacted soil go over your entire lawn once with the aerator making sure to follow directions for use. Once you aerate the lawn in the fall you can apply weed killers so the open holes are protected from weeds. Thatch is the layer of decomposing organic matter that forms right at the lawn surface between soil and grass. You fail to push a screwdriver through the moist soil.

For the best results use an aerating tool or machine that actually removes plugs of soil. Plug aerators remove a core or plug of grass and soil from the lawn. Spiking is not nearly as effective as core aerating but it s better than nothing.