How to Aerate a Lawn in Fall

Fall is a great time for a variety of landscaping maintenance tasks. As the hot temperatures of summer fade away and winter begins to close in, you can make a lot of progress on jobs that will help set you up to hit the ground running in the spring. 

In this article, we are going to focus specifically on how to aerate a lawn in fall. There are many benefits associated with aeration, but you’ll want to make sure to do it properly to get ideal results. Of course, if you would like to turn this job (or other maintenance work) over to the professional team at TLC, just reach out today to learn more about our services. 

What is Lawn Aeration?

Even if you didn’t know what it was called, you have almost certainly seen the aftermath of a lawn aeration project. Aeration is nothing more than using a tool to punch many small holes in a lawn. When the work is done, there is a grid pattern of holes all across the surface of the lawn, and a pile of plugs that have been pulled up out of the ground. The lawn will look like a pretty big mess immediately after aeration is finished, but it will start to return to its former glory soon enough. 

While it’s technically possible to aerate a lawn manually with a handheld aerator tool that you step on to create the holes, that technique is extremely time-consuming – and exhausting. Realistically, you are going to want the help of a machine to get this job done, if you are going to do it yourself. Renting an aerator is the best way to go for the average property owner, rather than purchasing one and storing it throughout the year. You could also hire a landscaper to do the work, which would save you even more time and ensure that the job is completed correctly. 

The Many Benefits 

There are many potential benefits associated with aerating your lawn, and those benefits may be even greater when you choose to do it in the fall as opposed to the spring. One of the primary motivations for aeration is to reduce compaction in the soil under the grass. Soil can get compacted over time, especially with a lot of foot traffic, and it will become hard for water and nutrients to move through the soil and help the roots of your grass grow. With aeration, you can loosen things up and create a healthier environment for growth. 

By aerating in the fall, you can give the roots of your grass a head start on the next growing season. Those roots will be able to dig deep into the soil and become strong and healthy before the cold winter temperatures arrive. Then, when spring comes around and the grass starts to grow again, it will do so from a healthy starting point. 

How to Aerate a Lawn

So, how do you complete this important maintenance task on your lawn? If you are going to take on the project yourself, review the steps below as an outline of how it should work –

• Rent a machine. As mentioned above, you will want to rent an aerating machine to help you with this task (assuming you don’t own one). Given that this is a popular maintenance activity in the fall, you might want to call around to rental businesses to make sure one is available. 
• Do some planning. The last thing you want to do while aerating your lawn is to hit a sprinkler head or irrigation line and cause costly damage. So, go around your lawn prior to doing the aerating and mark where these items are located. Don’t trust yourself to remember while running the machine – mark it out ahead of time to avoid any accidents. 
• Cover the whole lawn. Plan a route across the lawn that will allow you to walk back and forth until the entire area has been aerated. With an initial pass completed, you can then go back and provide some extra attention to any areas that tend to get extra foot traffic (and have more compacted soil as a result). For example, grass right next to a patio where people frequently walk around should be prioritized. 
• Leave it alone. You might be tempted to collect all the plugs that have been pulled up out of the lawn, but consider leaving them out there to dry. As they dry, go around with a rake to break them up a bit and spread them out. That dirt that makes up the cores will gradually work its way back down into the lawn. 

In addition to lawn aeration, there are plenty of other maintenance tasks that you might want to put on your to-do list for this fall season. Checking off as many jobs as possible before winter arrives will help make next year a great one on your property. For assistance with your fall maintenance work, get in touch with TLC right away. We’d love to serve you!