WHAT IS AERATION AND WHY DO WE DO IT?

Your lawn needs water, air and nutrients to grow. Aeration is about getting air and water to the roots of your lawn, which will help you to get a healthier lawn. 

Aeration is a process of punching small holes or cutting slits into your lawn. These can vary in depth from 1 to 4 inches and can be done in different ways, but the ultimate aim of this is to allow water and air to reach the roots.

Air

Over time, you will be walking on your lawn which causes the soil to compact under your weight. This is unavoidable and will happen, so you need to combat it. This compaction makes it very difficult for the lawn to thrive, as the dense soil does not allow air to enter into the soil. 

So, by cutting holes or slits into your lawn, this allows the air to reach the roots and your lawn to thrive. 

Water

When you water your lawn, the water will land on top of your grass, but it needs to make its way down to the root to be absorbed. However, if you have compact soil, this will prevent the water percolating down into the soil and reaching the roots. Likewise, the thatch layer in your grass will absorb the water and prevent it reaching the roots (the thatch layer is the old dead material which sits in your grass and has a spongy texture - you can look at scarifying to reduce this). 

So, by punching holes and slits into your lawn, you allow the water that falls on your lawn to percolate and reach the roots.