Aeration: Why, How & When to Aerate Your Lawn

To achieve and maintain a beautiful lawn, basic grass care techniques such as mowing the lawn, fertilizing and watering must be used properly. It is also important to ensure that nutrients enter the soil below your grass. Aeration can be a very important part of a healthy lawn as it allows air and water to enter the grass or lawn to be built.

Remove the switch and create a beautiful lawn with this quick guide to climate. You will learn what, how, and when to aerate your lawn for the best results.

What is Aeration?

Aeration involves penetrating the soil with small holes to allow air, water, and nutrients to enter the lawn. This helps the roots grow deeper and create a stronger lawn.

The main reason for aeration is to free soil from compaction. Too many solid particles in the soil are compressed in a given space, which prevents proper circulation of air, water, and nutrients in the soil. Heavy organic waste buried under the grass can also starve important parts of the roots.

Should You Be Aerating Your Lawn?

What is Aeration

One of the most common questions that homeowners have is how to decide whether their yard needs aeration. Your garden is a good candidate for aeration if:

  • It is widely used as an environmental playground or racetrack. Children and pets in the yard help compact the soil.
  • Founded as part of a newly built house- usually, the topsoil of newly built grass is lowered or buried, and construction traffic is compressed with grass growing on the ground.
  • It dries easily and has a porous taste. This can mean that your yard has too many problems. Wash with a shovel and set aside a piece of grass to a depth of about four inches. If the coating is larger than half an inch, aeration is recommended.
  • Soil deposition means that the soil has a better structure and then imports crushed rock that settles on conventional soil today. Layers disrupt the sewer system because the structure of water stored in the soil is better. This results in poor compaction and root development conditions. Aeration is broken down into layers, so water and roots can flow more easily.

Factors Affecting Soil Aeration

What is Aeration

Soil organic matter

When organic matter is added to the soil, the microorganisms of the soil easily disintegrate to release carbon dioxide into the soil air.

As the topsoil has more macrospore space than the sub-soil, there is a greater probability of gas exchange with the topsoil of the subsoil. Therefore, the oxygen content of the topsoil is higher than that of the subsoil.

Soil Moisture

Macrospores fill with water after heavy rain when the oxygen content drops to almost zero. When the soil is emptied ready again, the atmosphere fills with air, and the oxygen content of the soil increases.

Importance of Soil Aeration

What is Aeration

  • Soil aeration affects the availability of several nutrients for plant roots. Manganese and iron are found in well-aerated soils in the higher valence form and less aerobic soils in the lower valence form and are only available to plants in the lower valence form.
  • Crops are contaminated with manganese if excessive amounts of manganese enter the soil insoluble form. In this case, the toxicity of manganese to plant roots can be overestimated by making the soil airier, preparing the soil and improving soil drainage, or raising the pH of the soil with fertilizer.
  • When the soil lacks iron and manganese, the soil can be subjected to anaerobic conditions by applying biodegradable organic matter to the soil.
  • Carbon dioxide will be produced by the decomposition of organic matter to make the soil relatively anaerobic when manganese and iron are removed from their higher valencies at their lower valence. And it is available for tree roots.
  • Iron phosphate will be reduced to iron phosphate. Carbon dioxide is produced by the decomposition of organic substances that react with water to form carbonic acid, which gradually dissolves insoluble phosphate. Therefore, the presence of phosphate to the roots of plants will increase.
  • Sulfur appears as sulfate in well-aerated soil. Root assimilation of sulfate. Sulfate is reduced to sulfide in soil with bad air (standing water). Hydrogen sulfide is toxic to root growth, which tolerates it in wetlands.
  • Plants are toxic to manganese if there is too much soluble manganese in the soil. In this situation, the toxicity of manganese to plant roots can be increased by increasing soil aeration by tilting the soil and increasing soil drainage, or by increasing soil pH by adding lime.
  • Iron phosphate will be reduced to iron phosphate. Carbon dioxide, formed by the decomposition of organic matter, reacts with water to form a carbonic acid that slowly dissolves insoluble phosphate. Thus, the availability of phosphate in plant roots will increase.
  • Organic matter is degraded by aerobic bacteria well in aerial soils when complex organic nitrogen and phosphorus compounds are decomposed into suitable simple inorganic compounds where plant roots are easily assimilated by symbiotic nitrogen and insoluble in symbiotic nitrogen.
  • In poorly aerated soils, nitrates are reduced to nitrogen oxides and nitrogen gas. When the gas enters the atmosphere, long, brightly colored roots form in the aeration soil. Root hair grows best during good aeration.
  • The roots are thicker, shorter and darker in anaerobic soil, which also slows down the development of root hairs. Poor aeration causes abnormal root development, e.g. poorly found soil has an unusual peel and carrot root.
  • Nutrient absorption is an energy-intensive process. Respiratory energy is used to absorb food ions from the soil. Thus, on poor soils, the soil slows down the absorption of nutrients.
  • If too much decomposing organic matter is added to the soil, it will break down large amounts of carbon dioxide in the soil. Therefore, root growth and seed germination affect this.
  • Some plants may be slightly contaminated with pathogens present in the soil. Poor aeration is associated with the appearance of a voluntary disease caused by a fungus. Citrus and people suffering from bad soil air have also studied the work of several researchers who found that a bad climate (not moist soil) affects the pathogenicity of fungi that infect roots.

When to Aerate Your Lawn

What is Aeration

The best time for aeration is during the planting season when the garden can freeze and fill all the gaps after removing the cork from the ground. It is suitable for laying lawn in the early spring or fall season and late spring.

Aerating Tools: Plug Aerator vs. Spike Aerator

There are two main aeration tools: spike and plug. With a spike aerator, use a tool to push the hole into the ground with a heavy tine or fork. Plug aerators remove the core or plug of lawn from the soil, for best results, using the aerating tool to remove the plug from the soil.

Look for tools or aerators that remove soil plugs about 2-3 cm in diameter and 0.5 to 0.75 inches in diameter and about 2-3 cm deep. Always follow store instructions. You may want to consider sharing the cost of rent with residents who are interested in lawn aeration.

How to Aerate Your Yard

If you are sure your lawn needs aeration, here are some tips for looking after your lawn:

  • Make sure the soil is moist enough before use. Nothing feels uncomfortable like trying to get rid of dry soil. It is advised you aerate the day after watering or rain shower.
  • Most aerators use only a small amount of surface area each time, so they pass in the densest areas. Save your resources by leaving the unaffected area only
  • Excavated soil plugs must be dry to clean the grass immediately. Destroy them by running to mow the lawn or bumping them in the back with a trowel.
  • After aeration, it is important to follow basic lawn care procedures, such as fertilizing, mowing, and watering well.

Endnote

Aeration is a convenient way to get a beautiful lawn. But most people do not understand and the process. If your lawn is a candidate, create a comprehensive lawn care system. Your garden will thank you for the aeration.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *