Do You Need to Aerate Your Lawn Every Year?

After getting stepped on for months on end, it’s probably time for a bit of breathing room -- for your lawn, that is. Your yard provides the perfect space for family bonding, daily play, and a myriad of activities, but all that foot traffic puts a lot of pressure on your lawn. But it’s nothing a little poking and prodding can’t fix! 

Aeration season is right around the corner, so we’re starting early by answering all of the top questions about this essential treatment. Aerating is an integral part of your lawn care checklist. But what is it? If you aerated your lawn last year, do you need to do it again already? 

Here is everything you need to know about adding aeration to your regular lawn care routine. 

What Is Lawn Aeration?

If you’ve ever grown plants in a pot, you know that every so often, you’ll need to re-pot them as their roots have run out of space to grow. Your lawn experiences a similar situation. Heavily traveled upon soil or soil with high clay content can make it difficult for your lawn's roots to generate new growth.

Since your lawn can’t be repotted, aeration is the solution. Aeration involves penetrating the soil in your yard with small holes to allow air, water, and nutrients to reach the roots. This process helps your lawn become strong as the roots can grow deeper, allowing the soil structure to get back into balance.

When Should You Aerate Your Lawn?

Although aerating is a common and beneficial practice, the approach can be distressing to your lawn. It’s best to aerate when your grass is in its peak growing period, so it has the strength to recover quickly. 

For cold-weather grasses like fescue, this would be in early spring or fall. Late spring through early summer is the best time to aerate for warm-weather grasses like bermuda and zoysia. 

How Often Should You Aerate?

Whether you should aerate your lawn every year depends on how often you use your lawn and the type of soil you have. Compaction will happen much quicker if your lawn is highly-trafficked or has heavy clay soil. In these cases, your property will need to be aerated every year to maintain healthy growth. 

If your lawn is growing well and is primarily for aesthetics instead of play, you only need to aerate your lawn every two to three years. 

Questions about your soil or whether your lawn needs some breathing room? Our experts can provide a comprehensive lawn assessment! 

Call Waynes for a Barefoot Good Lawn

Waynes offers year-round lawn protection to ensure your grass stays green and healthy during peak season. These services include pre-emergent, weed control, fertilization, soil testing, and insect management for spittlebugs and armyworms. We can also provide additional services including aeration, disease management, grub management, and more!  See all of our lawn service capabilities here. 

To ensure your 2022 lawn is Barefoot Good, we are offering your first month of lawn services FREE when you sign a one-year agreement. Learn more about this great offer here!

For any other questions regarding how we can help you make your lawn the best it can be, call us today at 866.WAYNES1.