Lawn Aeration: It Is Time To Help Your Lawn Breathe

Lawn Aeration: It’s time to help your lawn breathe!

Springtime before the hottest weather starts is the perfect time for lawn aeration to give your lawn some extra access to oxygen and get it all prepared for the summer months. However, due to the recent wet weather your lawn and soil will have taken a beating. With the weather being quite unpredictable as of late, we recommend that you aerate your lawn whenever you have the time to do so. Over time the soil underneath your lawn gets compacted and this restricts the amount of air that gets to your soil and the root system of your lawn. Healthy soils are a mixture of solid soil particles, water and air, when the lawn is compacted there is less air and water available for your lawn. By regularly aerating your lawn you give your entire lawn a breath of fresh air and help it thrive, sending its root system deeper into the now freshly-oxygenated soil. A bonus about aerating your soil it’s also the perfect time to fertilise your lawn with the new holes letting the nutrients get right to the roots.

There are several methods of lawn aeration that range from using simple tools you already have at home, equipment you can purchase either from our online store or from your local hardware store as well as heavy-duty equipment you can hire from your local equipment hire company.

These tools break down into 2 categories, spikes and corers.

Corers pull out a plug of soil that is removed from the lawn, this is a far superior method but is harder and you do then have plugs of soil you will need to clean up.

One of the simplest methods of lawn aeration is to use a garden fork

Dig the fork at least 10cm into the ground and give the fork a good wiggle to open up the holes. Repeat this process at about 10cm intervals across your lawn.

The cheapest new toy that could help you aerate your lawn is a pair of lawn aerator sandals. While they may look like something for hiking through snow they are actually for easily putting lots of little holes over your lawn.

To really do it right with a tool you can keep at home you can’t go past the Cyclone Tubular Steel Lawn Aerator available from your local Bunnings store.

By removing plugs of soil this is the best hand tool available in Australia for lawn aeration, by removing the plugs of soil this tool opens up your lawn to a fresh breath of air without compacting the soil around the hole like a fork or the sandals.

With the lawn now covered in holes, the job isn’t complete. To keep those holes open giving your lawn express delivery of water and nutrients you can fill the holes with sand.

And now is the best time to get some fertiliser into your lawn as the holes will be taking the nutrients straight to the root system of your lawn. You can order a full range of our premium lawn fertilisers direct from our online store. Once fertilised water in well to give your lawn a good kick start. Your lawn won’t look its best for a couple of weeks but the payoff will come soon enough with your lawn stronger and ready for those hot summer days and the extra foot traffic of families and pets outdoors in the summer sun.