What is the proper way to aerate a lawn?

Question: 

What is the proper way to aerate a lawn?

Answer: 

Aerate lawns with a core aerator.  Core aerators have hollow metal tubes or tines that remove plugs of soil.  Avoid spike-type devices that simply punch holes (compacting the soil) in the ground.  Core aerators are often available at rental agencies.  Core aeration can also be done by professional lawn care companies. 

Remove soil cores that are approximately three-fourths of inch in diameter and 3 inches long.  For best results, aerate lawns when the soil is moist.  Avoid aeration when soils are dry or wet.  The tubes or tines will not be able to penetrate deeply when the soil is dry.  The tubes or tines may get plugged with soil when the soil is wet.  Lawns that are properly aerated should have 20 to 40 holes per square foot.  Since most aeration machines won’t remove the proper number of holes with a single pass, several passes are often necessary.  After aeration, mow the lawn to break up the soil cores on the soil surface. 

Learn more about core aeration in this article: Core Aeration of Lawns

Links to this article are strongly encouraged, and this article may be republished without further permission if published as written and if credit is given to the author, Horticulture and Home Pest News, and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. If this article is to be used in any other manner, permission from the author is required. This article was originally published on . The information contained within may not be the most current and accurate depending on when it is accessed.