LAWN AERATION SERVICES
Core Aeration for Lawns
Lawn Aeration is a crucial service for achieving and maintaining a stunning and healthy lawn. In the Boulder and Fort Collins areas, the soil often consists of clay and is typically low in organic matter. By utilizing core aeration services, you can effectively relieve soil compaction, allowing vital nutrients, water, and air to penetrate the soil more easily. This loose soil facilitates deeper root growth for grass, enabling it to develop a robust root system. Lawns with established deep roots are far better equipped to withstand heat and drought conditions than those with shallow roots.
Moreover, lawn aeration is essential for fostering a living soil. Core aeration plays a key role in maintaining the health of the microorganisms that inhabit the soil; without adequate air, these beneficial microbes cannot thrive. Due to the high clay content commonly found in Front Range Colorado soils, it’s advisable to perform core aeration at least once a year in the spring, with an additional session in the fall for optimal results. Prioritizing lawn aeration is vital for a vibrant and resilient lawn in Colorado, particularly in the clay-rich soils of Boulder, Fort Collins, and Arvada. Invest in your lawn’s health today!
Double Lawn Aeration
Two Times The Plugs
Double Core Aeration – Experience the transformative benefits of double core aeration! This method involves our technician making two comprehensive passes over your lawn, ensuring deeper soil penetration. This is ideal for homeowners with compacted lawns or those eager to seed right after aeration for optimal growth. Give your lawn the care it needs for a lush, healthy appearance!
When Is 2x Aeration Necessary?
Double aeration is crucial for restoring severely compacted lawns.
-If you have dogs in a small yard, their constant foot traffic can lead to significant soil compaction.
-Lawns that have been over watered for prolonged periods often suffer from hardpan, making double aeration an effective solution.
-We also strongly recommend double aeration for lawns affected by Necrotic Ring Spot. This lawn disease can be challenging to overcome, but double aeration significantly enhances the recovery process, proving to be far more beneficial than a single session.
Don’t let compacted soil or lawn diseases hold you back—invest in double aeration for a healthier, more resilient lawn!
What are the Benefits of Core Aeration
- Compacted soils severely limit the ability of turf grasses to develop strong root systems. When grasses are forced to grow in these conditions, they often end up with shallow roots—just 3 inches or less—making them more vulnerable to stress and less able to thrive.
- Core aeration relieves soil compaction by pulling cores of soil up to 3 inches in depth.
- Aerating the soil is a crucial step for any healthy lawn. When you aerate, you enhance air exchange, which enables the soil to absorb water, lawn fertilizer, and essential nutrients more effectively. Moreover, a well-aerated soil fosters a thriving environment for beneficial microbes, ensuring your lawn remains vibrant and resilient.
- Lawn aeration promotes deeper root growth for a lush, healthy and drought-resistant lawn.
- Over watering can all cause soil compaction. We recommend a sprinkler audit when a lawn is showing signs of severe compaction caused by being over watered.
When is the Best Time of Year to Aerate a Lawn?
Spring and Fall Lawn Aeration Seasons:
Spring Aeration Season: March 1st – May 31st
Fall Aeration Season: September 15th – October 31st (later into November is possible if there’s no snow on the ground).
When is the Best Time to Aerate a Lawn?
Lawn aeration is essential for maintaining healthy grass by relieving soil compaction, and it should be done at least once per year, ideally in the spring or fall. Core aeration enables critical nutrients, air, and water to penetrate deep into the soil, promoting lush growth.
Spring aeration not only alleviates compaction but also enhances air circulation, setting your lawn up for a vibrant summer. In contrast, fall aeration ensures that moisture reaches the root zone quickly, reducing the risk of winter desiccation.
How Much Does Aeration Cost?
Aeration prices are based on your lawn’s size. Use our online lawn measuring tool, which utilizes Google Maps technology, to measure your lawn’s square footage and receive an instant price.
Lawn Aeration FAQ's
Why is Core Aeration Important to the Health of the Grass in Colorado?
Aeration is a powerful solution to combat soil compaction, ensuring that vital nutrients, water, and air can penetrate deep into the root zone of your lawn. By enhancing air circulation, you not only promote healthier grass but also create an optimal environment for beneficial microbes and bacteria to thrive, fostering a lush and vibrant landscape.
What is the Difference Between De-Thatching a Lawn and Aeration?
Thatching or dethatching a lawn involves using a machine called a power rake to physically remove organic matter that is not decomposing properly. This organic matter includes old grass clippings, tree leaves, and other materials that are not decaying effectively. The buildup of this organic matter is known as thatch, which typically accumulates in lawns with poor maintenance practices, such as improper watering, incorrect mowing, and the use of chemical fertilizers and weed controls. When a lawn lacks beneficial microbial activity, organic matter can accumulate, leading to thatch problems.
On the other hand, lawn aeration uses a different type of machine that removes plugs of soil, alleviating soil compaction. This process allows nutrients, water, and air to penetrate the soil. Air is essential for the survival and growth of beneficial microbes and bacteria. Maintaining a healthy, living soil with these beneficial organisms can help prevent the need for power raking or dethatching.
Lawn aeration is the process of pulling plugs from the soil with small holes to allow air, water, and nutrients to penetrate the roots of grass. This helps reduce soil compaction and promotes healthier lawn growth.
Aeration helps alleviate soil compaction, improves drainage, encourages root growth, and enhances nutrient absorption. It is particularly beneficial for lawns with heavy foot traffic, poor soil, or excessive thatch.
Signs your lawn needs aeration include poor drainage, sparse or thinning grass, the presence of heavy thatch, or soil that feels hard and compacted. If water tends to pool in your yard, it might also be time to aerate.
For cool-season grasses like fescue and bluegrass that grow in Colorado, aerate in early spring or fall.
Most lawns benefit from aeration once a year. However, highly compacted lawns or those with heavy clay soils that are often found in Colorado may require aeration twice a year.
Core aeration removes plugs of soil, reducing compaction more effectively, while spike aeration creates holes by pushing soil aside, which can sometimes increase compaction in heavy soils.
Yes, water your lawn 1–2 days before aeration to soften the soil, making it easier for the aerator to penetrate. Aerating dry, hard soil can produce shorter plug length.
Each sprinkler system is different but we recommend between 4/10ths of an inch of water and 7/10ths of an inch of water, depending on sun angle. We have a wonderful webpage on how to properly water a lawn that can better explain this.
After aerating, leave the soil plugs on the surface to decompose and return nutrients to the soil.
Indirectly, yes. Aeration promotes a healthy, dense lawn that can outcompete weeds. However, it won’t kill existing weeds.
Recovery is typically quick, especially if done during the growing season. Grass usually starts filling in within a few weeks, and the benefits of aeration are visible in healthier, thicker turf.
We stay about 6-8 inches away from the edge of the lawn. This helps protect the sprinkler heads that are on the perimeter of the lawn.
We can repair your damaged sprinkler line; however, please note that there will be a charge for the repair. It’s advisable to contact the company that originally installed the sprinkler lines to inquire about a warranty for the repair, as the line was not installed at the correct depth of 9 inches deep. Core aeration plugs only reach a maximum depth of 3.5 inches deep so a properly installed sprinkler line should be damaged. We appreciate your understanding; we are not trying to be difficult, but our technicians cannot see the underground sprinkler lines and, therefore, we would not be able to avoid hitting a shallow sprinkler line.
Hitting a sprinkler head during aeration is unlikely; however, we cannot guarantee the safety of any unmarked heads. Please mark any sprinkler head that is located more than 6 inches from the edge of the lawn. If an unmarked sprinkler head that is more than 6 inches from the perimeter is hit and damaged by the aerator, we will not repair it. While we can repair unmarked damaged sprinkler heads, this service will incur an additional charge.
The best thing to use is a flag, but you can use anything that is easily visible like large sticks, large rocks, cat food cans, or anything else that would be noticeable.
Our machines extract soil plugs that are 1 to 3.5 inches deep, depending on soil compaction and moisture levels. For optimal results, we recommend watering your lawn 1 to 2 days before the core aeration service.
After installing new sod, you should wait 6 to 12 months before aerating the lawn. This allows the sod to fully establish its root system and bond securely with the underlying soil. Aerating too soon can disrupt the rooting process, potentially lifting the sod and causing uneven growth. Once the grass is actively growing and well-rooted, aeration can be performed to promote healthy root development and improve soil health. To check if the sod is ready, gently tug on it; if there is strong resistance, it’s likely well-rooted and can handle aeration.