| Aerating a Lawn |
|
To keep your lawn healthy, it is important to aerate the soil once or twice a year. This is particularly important in heavy clay soils. You can check if your soil needs aerating by pushing a screwdriver into it. If you have difficulty inserting the screwdriver, your lawn is in need of aeration. Aerating the soil allows oxygen into the root zone so the roots can breathe. It allows fertilisers, nutrients and water to enter the root zone. It also breaks up a tighly thatched lawn and allows more space for the roots to grow. The simpliest way to aerate your lawn is to make holes in it using a garden fork. Push your garden fork as far as you can into the lawn and jiggle it a little. You can also purchase an inexpensive hand coring tool that removes a plug of soil to help aerate the ground. If you have a large lawn, you can hire a power-driven coring machine to do the job faster. Aerating a lawn is often overlooked my many gardeners but it can mean the difference between an average lawn and a robust healthy green one.
|