Lawn Aeration is the process of putting thousands of holes in the grass to aid water and air movement through the soil profile.

There are many DIY lawn aerators available to buy however aeration is best complete using a purpose-built professional petrol lawn aerator.

Aerating a lawn is required as over time, the soil in your grass becomes compacted, often this is caused by many things Lawnmowers, children playing, pets etc. The result is the spaces in the soil that contains the air gradually decrease leaving the soil compacted.

Soil compaction can have a detrimental effect on the health of the lawn drainage is impeded, shallow-rooted grass becomes dominant causing poor drought resistance and thatch build-up increases.

What are the benefits of aerating your lawn?

• Improved drainage
• Improved drought resistance due to conditions that favour deeper rooted grasses
• Desirable grasses become dominant
• Increased micro-organism populations

When should you aerate your lawn?

Lawns can be aerated at any time of the year, soil & weather conditions permitting, but the ideal time of the year for lawn aeration is in the late summer/early autumn.

Even during drought conditions in the summer, lightly pricking the surface before watering takes place helps to  get water into the soil.

There are mainly two types of aeration;
Hollow tine aeration – This type of lawn aeration removes cores from the lawn to a typical depth of 4″ or 10cm. Hollow tine aeration works by hollow tubes being punched into the lawn, which removes the compacted core.

Spiker of solid tine aerator – This type of lawn aeration is ideal for general purpose aeration, relieving compaction and can also be used during autumn renovation. This is ideal for lightly spiking the surface before watering during the summer to aid water penetration and to get a wetting agent to where it needs to be.