How often to aerate??

fish6942 · Apr 6, 2011

I have a 48" tow behind plug aerator it is such a s-l-o-w process so I'm not really inclined to do it more than I have to. We have about 1/2 acre of lawn and another 2 acres of yard. So far I've been aerating the lawn around the house only in the fall. Should I be aerating in the spring as well?

If I get super bored, I may aerate the 2 acre yard some day.

LostInTheWoods · Apr 6, 2011

I always aerate our yard each March and October. Not sure if that's the right amount or not, but works for me. We have a lot of clay in our soil, so it tends to compact easily. So I do it twice each year.

AlbertaDan · Apr 6, 2011

When we lived outwest we used todo it each spring. After aerating we used to de-thatch the lawn to get rid of the dead grrass from the previous year. We also used to over seed and fertilize. This was all done as soon as the snow was gone and the roots were thawed.

By early summer the lawn was like a thick green carpet. We also had a lot of clay in the soil.

The over seed kept the lawn thick, young, and healthy. the thicker the grass the fewer weeds can get started.

The fertilize was a high Notrogen (first number) for root growth.

Aerating let air, water and the fertilizer down to the roots. It aslo loosened up the siol for root growth.

the de-thatching got rid of the previous year's dead grass so the new grass wouldn't get choked out.

Ranger Rick · Apr 6, 2011

You are fine aerating once a year. When I was managing a park with 4 soccer fields and 4 baseball fields we would aerate them in the late summer early fall and then top dress the fields and then seed them. You could do the same by spreading and inch of leaf compost which would add good soil material and fertilize the lawn at the same time.
We had a 6 foot core aerator that we put on our tractor and it still took a long time to do all of the fields. If the soil conditions are right (not to wet or dry) we could speed the tractor up and have the cores flying out.
Rick

dwost · Apr 6, 2011

Twice per year is ideal, spring and fall. You can not over-aerate so if you were so inclined you could do it in the summer too but it's not necessary.