PREPARING FOR AERATION
Sprinkler Heads
We guarantee that we will not damage your sprinkler heads if they have been marked in advance. It is very rare, however, that we hit a head, even in the many lawns where heads have not been marked. If you do want to mark your heads in advance, you can skip those that are within eight inches of a clearly-defined perimeter. We assume those heads are there, and we’ll avoid them.
Watering Your Lawn
Aeration is most effective if the ground is slightly moist when we aerate. If your lawn is very dry, you may want to water a day or two before we arrive.
“Do I really need to aerate?”
Yes! We recommend aerating in the spring and fall, every year.
Compare the “before” and “after” pictures below to understand what’s going on beneath the surface.
Watering, fertilizing and aerating are the most important things you can do to assure your lawn’s good health. When those tasks are done properly there is often little or no need for weed, insect or disease control.
Among the many benefits of aeration are:
*Increased water absorption- reducing watering requirements
*Vigorous, deeper root development
*Reduced thatch
*Disease, weed and pest resistance
*Better drought tolerance
EQUIPMENT MATTERS: It’s all about weight
Most aerators have “tines” that are about three inches long to pull plugs of soil and thatch to the surface. Inexpensive, lightweight machines, however, can’t force those tines down into hard, compacted soil. That’s why we use Billy Goat aerators, which weigh fifty to one-hundred pounds more than the machines most lawn companies use.
Despite the extra weight, our machines are more maneuverable than most, which means we can get to the tight spots in your yard that others might miss.
Before
Roots can’t penetrate compacted, clay-rich Colorado soil, causing them to turn around and root back into themselves, creating a thick thatch layer. Fungus loves thatch, and shallow roots means your lawn is vulnerable to weeds and the stresses of summer heat.
After
Aerating holes quickly collapse, resulting in loosened soil that enables vigorous root development. Microbes pulled to the surface with the aerating plugs facilitate decomposition of the thatch layer, improving moisture retention and nutrient absorption.