How to Tell if Your Lawrenceville Lawn Needs Aeration This Spring

Georgia lawns can go through a lot during the winter season. The fluctuating temperatures we experience can often cause stress to our grass. If it appears exhausted, depleted and worn out this spring, you may need a spring pick me up. Here in Lawrenceville, Georgia, our turf often begins to show signs of compacted soil in the spring. Compacted soil can cause several issues, including brown, dry patches and spongy grass, but never fear, there is a solution. It’s called aeration. Unsure of what this odd term means? Environmental Turf Management is here to explain everything you need to know about compacted soil, aeration, how it works, the signs your grass needs it, and when it’s best to have it performed. 

Soil Compaction

Let’s start with an explanation of compacted soil. Compacted soil is essentially a build-up of thatch, or layer of grass clippings and organic matter that form a barrier at the base of your turf. While some thatch is good for your lawn, an excessively thick layer can negatively impact your yard. It reduces the rate of both water infiltration and drainage preventing nutrients and water from getting to and from your grassroots. Long term, this will cause your grass to become malnourished and dehydrated. Weakening, over time, it could die.

Signs Your Lawrenceville Lawn Has Compacted Soil

• Spongy grass
• Water runs off or pools in areas of your yard. 
• Bare or patchy areas of grass
• Stunted growth of plants 
• Hard soil

Because these symptoms can often mimic other lawn conditions, you can test your soil to make sure it is compacted. To do this, stick a screwdriver into the ground. If it’s dry and does not easily penetrate, your soil is probably compacted. 

Causes of Soil Compaction

The soil in your yard can become compacted or develop thick thatch by a number of different causes, sometimes even because of how the grass in your lawn was initially laid down. A few reasons include:

• If your Lawrenceville home was recently built, the soil in your yard could have been stripped away or severely impacted by traffic from heavy construction vehicles.
• If your lawn was established with sod, the different texture and quality soils might be interfering with your lawn’s ability to drain water effectively and develop sound grassroots systems.
• Heavy foot traffic.
• Certain types of soil are more prone than others.
• Improper irrigation techniques.
• The type of grass. Some types of grass handle heavy foot traffic better than others.

Aeration

Aeration is the process of using a machine to pull up bits of your lawn, ranging anywhere from one inch deep to three inches deep. These are pulled up in little “plugs” by metal machinery. The plugs are then redistributed across your Lawrenceville lawn. The process allows sunlight, water, and other essential nutrients to permeate your grassroots, giving them what they need to grow healthy and strong. The benefits of aeration are endless. Some of them include:

• A reduction in soil compaction
• Stronger, deeper roots
• A break-down of thatch build-up
• Resistance to drought
• Elimination of water runoff and puddling

Timing of Aeration

Georgia lawns typically have dense, clay soil. This makes it difficult for grass to get the nourishment it needs, even with proper watering and fertilization. We recommend all Lawrenceville lawns be aerated annually. For lawns containing warm-season grasses such as bermudagrass and zoysia, having aeration performed in late spring or early summer is ideal.

For cool-season grasses, like fescue, aeration is performed in late summer or fall. The heat and sun of summer leave clay soil especially hard and dense. Aeration can help with that and prepare the ground for another overseeding.

Environmental Turf Management Can Rejuvenate Your Lawrenceville Area Lawn With Aeration

Environmental Turf Management specializes in a full menu of core aeration and seeding programs. Our landscape team uses commercial-grade equipment to methodically work through your yard, punching small holes in the soil that allow fertilizer, water, and oxygen to redistribute throughout the root zone. If you have bermudagrass or zoysia grass, you should call and schedule your spring aeration service now. For those of our clients who have fescue, waiting till late summer or fall is perfectly fine.

Environmental Turf Management has provided exceptional lawn care services throughout the Lawrenceville area and beyond for over 20 years. We offer a 7-step fertilization program that includes the nourishment your turf needs as well as the appropriate amounts of weed control needed for a well-manicured lawn. We also offer bed weed control, tree and shrub care, fire ant control, mole control, and flea and tick control. For a complete list of our services, visit our website. And feel free to give us a call. You can reach us at 1-770-466-0234.

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