Aeration

Lawn professionals all agree that the single most beneficial cultural treatment that you can do for your lawn is to aerate the soil. Regular use of the lawn, coupled with heavy soil, compacts the soil to such an extent that adequate oxygen, moisture and nutrients are prevented from reaching the grass roots.

Aeration will loosen the soil so the roots have more freedom to develop and allow the soil to drain more easily helping to eliminate moss from your lawn. 

In summary lawn aeration has a number of benefits including:

• Increased water, oxygen and nutrient uptake by the grass roots
• Improved development of roots to greater soil depths
• Encouraging the breakdown and decomposition of thatch by soil micro-organisms
• Relieves soil compaction enhancing water penetration and
  reducing run-off

In practice aeration involves using a machine to replicate the effect of penetrating the turf with a garden fork many thousands of time. The process is best carried out when the ground is compliant (not too wet and not too hard) and when foot traffic across the lawn is minimal.

We recommend that aeration is best carried out during the period end-October to early-March.

The optimal time to apply a top dressing to the lawn is after aeration has been completed. For more information on top dressing click here.