LAWN AERATION

• Reduces soil compaction
• Improves grass rooting
• Promotes thatch breakdown
• Improves drought tolerance
• Enhanced fertilizer uptake

Soil cores

Hollow tines pull soil cores from the lawn. Leaving them on the lawn is beneficial, since it helps breakdown thatch.

WHY 'PLUG' YOUR HOME LAWN?

• New construction compacts the soil
• Lawns (especially sodded lawns) build thatch
• Home lawns with heavy traffic get compacted
• Compacted lawns buildup thatch faster
• Lime & fertilizer penetrate the soil faster

Above: Spreading grasses such as Kentucky Bluegrass have white roots known as rhizomes. This type of spreading grass tends to produce thatch faster than a "bunch-type" grass like Perennial Rye.

Soil cores, pulled by an aerator, provide a good cross section of the lawn surface and soil profile. The top of the quarter is at the soil surface. Above that is the thatch layer, which in this case is approximately 3/4-inch of roots and organic debris.

It's important to keep thatch layers
under 1/2-inch thick.

Lawn pages

• lawn planting

• watering turfgrass

• lawnmowing

• fertilizing lawns

• lawn renovation

• how to lay sod

• how to seed along a new driveway

• lawn sprinklers

• thatch buildup

• cool season grasses

• warm season grasses

• September is lawn month