How do I know if my soil is compacted?
When your lawn is exposed to any kind of activity, it is subject to compaction. So after a summer of kids playing, pets running, and adults walking over the grass, it’s highly likely that you need to treat compacted soil!
You can tell if you have compacted soil by pushing a finger into the soil. You should be able to easily slide your finger into the soil 1-knuckle deep. If you can’t or it’s difficult to do so, your soil is definitely compacted and needs to be aerated.
Why should I aerate my lawn?
Over time, grass and thatch (the layer of mainly dead grass tissue lying between the green vegetation of the grass above and the root system and soil below) build-up on your lawn. This build-up restricts the ability of water, oxygen, and nutrients to reach grass roots. Without these necessities, your grass struggles to survive, resulting in brown patches, thin growth, and less resistance to disease/pests. With an aerated lawn, you’ll see the benefits through a fuller, greener, lusher yard!
Don’t fret, You can treat compacted soil!
The first step towards a fuller, greener yard!
USE A CORE-AERATOR
A core-aerator is a machine that pierces the soil and pulls up plugs of soil and grass, leaving space for air and water to reach the roots. The spaces also provide shade for newly sown seed (making it advantageous to schedule aeration and seeding on the same day). The holes left by the aerator allow more oxygen and moisture to reach the roots of the lawn, preventing the grass from turning brown or dying. You can either rent a machine to do it yourself, or you can let us do the hard work!
Contact us to hire one of our professionals to aerate your lawn for you!
ADD A SOIL CONDITIONER
Use Jonathan Green’s Love Your Soil to help with very hard soils. It’s made with a special, fast-acting gypsum formula to rapidly loosen hard, compacted soils. And as an added bonus- it also feeds beneficial soil microbes!
Hot tip!
To limit compaction in the future, use a metal rake periodically to help break up the layer of thatch.