Do you need to aerate your lawn?

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Dchall_San_Antonio
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Do you need to aerate your lawn?

Post by Dchall_San_Antonio » September 15th, 2021, 6:43 pm

Oh, gosh! Literally everyone wants you to aerate your lawn. Well, those most adamant about it are those making sweet, sweet money off of the lawn owners they serve. But read any newspaper article, every magazine, and even university extension service articles rave on with fabulous detail about how it "opens the soil." So as to lend credibility to the concept, they quote golf course superintendents from across the country swearing to the idea of regular aeration.

I've done some reading over the years, and it turns out the golf industry has different issues from the homeowner. The main reason they run the tines over the greens every few weeks is to punch through a hydrophobic layer of fungus that likes to grow on top of grass which is 1) mowed short, and 2) watered every day. If they don't punch the holes, that water they apply every day never penetrates to the soil. They have tried watering multiple times per day, but if the water won't go through, the roots remain dry. Poking holes is one way through the barrier. Another way through the barrier is to use surfactants, but that is not today's topic. Today I'm linking to an article from golf.com. They have a series of interviews of superintendents and greens keepers meant to help the homeowner. This one asks the question, should you aerate your lawn? The article notes the very specific conditions which a golf course has which require them to open up the canopy to fresh air. Interestingly it is the opposite problem from the one the universities have been solving over the years. But anyway, it is still not a problem that homeowners complain about.

Should You Aerate Your Lawn - from Golf.com.
Spoiler alert: No, you don't need to aerate.

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ken-n-nancy
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Re: Do you need to aerate your lawn?

Post by ken-n-nancy » April 22nd, 2022, 10:44 am

Thanks for sharing this article. It's good to have the perspective from a golf course superintendent.

Interestingly, though, he doesn't mention one of the reasons for not aerating that is the most important from my perspective -- aeration tends to encourage the spread of weedy grasses such as Poa annua and Poa trivialis.

Avoiding anything which helps encourage weedy grasses is the biggest reason not to aerate, in my personal opinion.

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Do you need to aerate your lawn?

Post by MorpheusPA » April 22nd, 2022, 7:27 pm

Shrug. Fifteen years. No aeration. Best lawn in the neighborhood. Perhaps the city. :-)

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turf_toes
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Re: Do you need to aerate your lawn?

Post by turf_toes » April 23rd, 2022, 12:32 pm

MorpheusPA wrote:
April 22nd, 2022, 7:27 pm
Shrug. Fifteen years. No aeration. Best lawn in the neighborhood. Perhaps the city. :-)
Funny isn’t it?

The folks I know locally who are so adamant about core aeration all seem (at least from my point of view) to have so, so-looking lawns.

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Do you need to aerate your lawn?

Post by MorpheusPA » April 23rd, 2022, 4:15 pm

turf_toes wrote:
April 23rd, 2022, 12:32 pm
MorpheusPA wrote:
April 22nd, 2022, 7:27 pm
Shrug. Fifteen years. No aeration. Best lawn in the neighborhood. Perhaps the city. :-)
Funny isn’t it?

The folks I know locally who are so adamant about core aeration all seem (at least from my point of view) to have so, so-looking lawns.
Yep. :-)

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