A Guide to Liquid Aeration
Many people wonder what more they can do to their yard when fall arrives. After a long hot summer and plenty of outdoor activities, your yard could start to show signs of wear and tear. Weak and thinning grass can leave your yard open for weeds to take root and crowd out your grass. Even worse, if your soil has become compact due to lots of foot traffic or thatch buildup under your grass, it can prevent the exchange of water, air, and nutrients to the roots. This will give your grass the appearance of drought damage but you’ll soon learn that it’s much more complicated than that.
What Are the Signs of Compacted Soil?
Compacted soil can be identified by its appearance. The grass may have a dull color and feel spongy when you walk on it. In some cases, you may see puddles of water on the surface after a rainstorm or notice that your lawn drains very slowly. These are all signs that your soil is compacted and in need of aeration:
- Water pooling in low areas
- Spongy or squishy grass
- Stunted growth
- Shallow roots
- Soil too hard to dig
What Is Liquid Aeration?
Liquid aeration is the process of injecting a pressurized mixture of water and soil amendments deep into the root zone of your lawn. This mixture helps to break up compacted soil, improve drainage, and encourage new root growth.
How Does Liquid Aeration Work?
Liquid aeration works by breaking up the compacted layers of soil in your lawn. Liquid aeration does this by creating small pores in the turf to help loosen the soil. This process also helps improve drainage and allows nutrients and water to reach the roots of your grass more easily.
Why Is Liquid Aeration Better Than Traditional Aeration?
Liquid aeration is better than traditional aeration because it is less disruptive to your lawn. Traditional core aeration can leave your lawn looking patchy and uneven. Liquid aeration will not leave your lawn looking like this because it does not remove any plugs of soil from your lawn. Another reason liquid aeration is better is that it can be done more frequently. You can aerate your lawn with a traditional core aerator every 3-4 weeks, but with liquid aeration, you can do it every 2 weeks if you need to. This means that your lawn will recover from the aeration process faster and will be less stressed.
How To Know If Your Lawn Needs To Be Aerated?
As stated above, compacted soil prevents grass from growing a healthy root system and keeps air and water from reaching the roots. Your grass might start to show signs similar to drought stress. If you water your grass and notice no change in the color then there’s a good chance that your soil is compacted. Compacted soil can lead to other problems such as pooling water in low areas which can become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
What Causes Soil Compaction?
- Construction traffic on new builds
- Walking, running, or playing
- Mowing
- Thatch buildup
- Irrigating your grass
Aeration can relieve soil compaction, promoting deep root growth and allowing for the exchange of water, air, and nutrients.
When Should I Aerate My Lawn?
Aeration is a vital tool to help keep your yard looking its best but it has to be done at the proper time or it could do more damage to your lawn. The proper time to aerate all depends on the type of grass you have because it needs to be done while your grass is still growing. Here in South Carolina, we have several grass types that are used for residential and commercial turf.
Common grass types in South Carolina include:
- St. Augustine
- Zoysia
- Fescue
- Centipede
- Bermuda
These warm-season grasses are actively growing throughout the summer so this is the best time to aerate. DO NOT aerate warm-season grasses during the fall, winter, or early spring as they cannot recover properly.
Call the Lawn Care Professionals
When your yard becomes too much work for you to handle it’s time to call in the professionals. At Coastal Turf our lawn technicians are trained in lawn care maintenance and can restore and enhance your lawn to levels you can be proud of. Don't wait to get weed control for your Mt. Pleasant lawn!