Seasonal Tips
How to Repair Your Lawn Without Sod
If your lawn is looking stressed and putting in new sod seems like the only solution, please read on. Overtime the soil underneath lawns compacts and causes turf to deteriorate and not look its best. But there’s hope—and the solution doesn’t involve laying down new sod. One of the best cultural practices you can perform on your lawn is core aeration, and in most cases, core aeration in conjunction with over-seeding.
So, what is core aeration?
Core aeration is a mechanized process using specialized equipment to remove and deposit small cores of soil from the ground. The deposited cores sit on top of the grass after they’ve been pulled out. The small 2"-3" deep holes created by the removed cores enable air, nutrients and water to penetrate to the root system of the grass. Thus core aeration helps reduce your watering needs by allowing irrigation and/or natural rainfall to effectively reach the roots.
In addition, as the removed cores of soil break down, they help increase microbial activity that aids in decomposition of thatch, and stimulates root activity.
When is the best time to aerate?
The best time to aerate most lawns is in late summer, or early fall depending on where you live. At this time of year, lawns are coming out of summer dormancy and beginning a period of vigorous growth. Competition from weeds is also minimal during this time.
What about over-seeding?
If over-seeding is done with aeration, it’s important to use high quality certified seed. Seed technology has come a long way, and newer seed varieties are available that are drought tolerant, insect resistant and disease resistant. The core aeration and over-seeding process is a perfect opportunity to introduce some of these new grass seed varieties into a lawn for improving its overall quality.
If you are interested in signing up for core aeration and over-seeding service please enter your zip code on this page to find the service provider in your area. If there doesn’t happen to be one in your area, please call us at: (800) 989-5444 so we may help.
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