Posted on September 22nd, 2014
As summer’s heat disappears and is replaced by fall’s cooler temperatures and autumn rains, your lawn is ready for conditioning for next year’s growth. Now’s the best time to aerate and overseed your lawn to give it time to get established during early fall’s optimal growing conditions and replace any crabgrass and weeds that prospered during the summer.
Aeration and overseeding is perhaps the best thing you can do for your lawn to prepare it for spring growth. Aeration is the process of mechanically punching holes in your lawn, opening it up to grass seed and helping oxygen and nutrients get down into the soil to boost root generation and more quickly reestablish a thicker, greener lawn.
Aeration is best performed with a machine called a mechanical core aerator which pulls soil cores out of the earth and is especially helpful if your soil is compacted from heavy foot traffic or has large amounts of clay in it. The cores are usually left on the turf to decompose and go back into the lawn.
But lawn aeration is only half the story. Overseeding is the next step for producing a better lawn next year. If your lawn struggled during the summer months, core aeration is the ideal way to prepare it for overseeding and the opportunity to not only grow more grass, but perhaps change up the type of grass you’re growing to better match your lawn and weather conditions. Some of the best grasses for the New England climate include Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass.
Aeration and overseeding is something some homeowners like to do themselves. Many home improvement stores and garden centers rent core aerators; however they can be heavy and awkward to transport and operate so many people find it easier – and get better results – by hiring a professional lawn service.
Whether you decide to do it yourself or hire a professional, lawn aeration and overseeding is something that should be done during the fall so you can be assured of having a thicker, greener, healthier lawn in the spring.
To learn more about lawn aeration and overseeding, talk to the professionals at Turf Unlimited. Call 888-649-9919, visit our website, or email us.
