3 Key Steps for a Beautiful Lush Lawn Next Spring: Aerate, Compost, Overseed (Part 1)

Are you dreaming of a yard free of thatch, brown spots, and bald patches? The fall season is an excellent time of the year to nurture your lawn. A lush and healthy yard in the Spring begins with a critical 3-step lawn maintenance process in the Fall.

This is the first of a three-part blog series on "Fall lawn care for a lush Spring lawn."

Step #1 To a Lush and Healthy Lawn – Aerate The Soil For Better Absorption

Over time, the soil beneath your lawn becomes compacted, which stifles the grass root growth. Heavy mowers and other large lawn care equipment, foot traffic, thatch build-up, and clay soil are common causes of the hardening of soil. To break up the compacted soil, we recommend aerating your lawn annually.

Aeration is the process of perforating the soil with small holes in the lawn to help oxygen, water, and nutrients reach the root zone quicker and more efficiently.

LONG-TERM BENEFITS OF AERATING YOUR YARD:

• Decreases water required for lawn care due to increased water absorption of the soil

• Improves the effectiveness of fertilizer due to increased overall absorption-ability of the soil

• Eliminates undesirable thatch layers

• Decreases water collection and run-off

• Nurtures grass to become more tolerant of heat and drought conditions

• Improves turf resilience and cushioning

CORE AERATION

Although there are several methods to aerate the soil, at Indresano Corporation, we utilize the core aeration process as part of our recommended annual lawn care program. It is the most productive soil aeration method, using hollow tines to extract plugs of soil and depositing them on to the surface of the lawn.

AERATE YOUR LAWN IN THE FALL

The optimal time to aerate your lawn is in the Fall before fertilizing and overseeding. Grass roots and rhizomes thrive in the Fall. Aeration prepares roots for more growth before the freeze and snow of the winter months arrive. Aerating in the summer months is not ideal as the drought conditions may produce weed growth and water evaporation, ultimately adding more stress to your lawn.

NEXT UP -- FERTILIZE WITH COMPOST

Once you've aerated your lawn, the next critical step to a lush healthy lawn in the Spring is to fertilize with compost in the Fall. Check out the second blog post of this lawn care series to learn about the benefits of compost!