Aeration and Overseed: Helping your lawn breath and thrive

Have you ever walked by a lawn and saw lots of holes and little dirt logs? You have to do a double take at first because let's all be honest it looks like a whole herd of yorkies came through to do their business! But do you know how beneficial those holes are for your lawn? If your lawn is struggling, thin and patchy aeration and overseeding is exactly what you need.

Overtime your yard becomes hard and compact making it hard for your grass to thrive. This compaction impedes on the grass's ability to grow stronger roots and doesn't allow the ground to absorb the necessary oxygen, water, and nutrients. Without these necessities your grass is often more dead than alive and overrun by weeds. The best thing you can do for your yard is aeration.

Aeration is the process of creating small holes or perforations in your lawn and can be done in many different ways, some more time consuming than others. Manual methods include using a garden fork, manual core aerator, and believe it or not they even make aerator shoes. There are also mechanical aerators that you can purchase or rent. But if you have a larger yard, or not a lot of spare time calling in a professional is your best option.

There are so many benefits aeration has on your yard. These benefits include improved soil health, better root growth, reduced thatch, improved water infiltration, increased nutrient uptake, enhanced drought tolerance. But to truly help improve your lawn you shouldn't just aerate, especially if you'd like to see improvements a little quicker.

Aeration is a great foundation to have a healthier and stronger lawn, but what about those bare spots and thinner areas? This is where overseeding comes into play. Overseeding after aeration is key to helping fill in those patches that make your lawn look less than desirable. With all those little holes from aeration the seeds have the best chance for germination because they have direct contact with the soil and protection allowing them to grow faster and stronger.

Aeration and overseeding gives you a thicker and stronger lawn. A healthy lawn is less susceptible to weeds, more resistant to diseases, and can better withstand harsh weather conditions and foot traffic. A professional is your best bet to getting your lawn in tip top shape, suggesting the best grass species for your area, and doing the aeration and overseeding for you saving you both time and energy.