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Do I Need to Aerate in the Fall?

Why should I aerate? Everyone wants to maintain a beautiful lawn, right? In order to do that basic lawn care steps, such as properly mowing, watering, and fertilizing are necessary. However, all of this will not achieve the beautiful lawn of your dreams if the nutrients can’t reach the soil beneath the grass. This is where aeration comes in. Literally, aeration penetrates the soil with small holes to allow water, air, and nutrients to get to the roots. The fall provides a great time to aerate. Now is the time to contact R&S Lawn Service to schedule your all aeration of your Smithville, Missouri lawn.

Grasses fall into two distinct categories: warm-season and cool-season grasses. In the late summer or early fall it’s time to aerate your cool-season grasses. Cool-season grasses, such as Kentucky bluegrass, Fescue, or Ryegrass emerge from their summer sleep or dormancy at the beginning of the fall. They will grow enthusiastically as their competition, the weeds, die off. These grasses will grow strong and hardy IF aeration is done at the right time.

So, when should you aerate your lawn? Ideally, you want to time aeration four weeks before the first frost. This gives the turf plenty of time to recover from the stress of aeration. With the clay-based soils of Clay County, Missouri, you want to make sure to aerate at least once a year. What else do you need to consider when planning for a healthy yard? The process of aeration opens up the ground and makes it a great time to do other necessary maintenance. Plan to have the lawn care professionals at R&S Lawn Service fertilize and reseed your lawn after aeration.