Everyone wants to be the proud owner of a happy home. For most, this vision includes a beautiful and healthy lawn. Lawn aeration is a key element to maintaining this dream property. This process can be confusing for beginners, so here are the basic ideas you want to keep in mind when first starting out!

First, make sure that your lawn needs to be aerated. If your yard is the gathering place for kids in the neighborhood or if your house was recently built, you are a candidate. Does your soil dry out easily or feel spongy? This is another tell-tale sign that lawn aeration is necessary. The easiest way to tell if this work should be done is to check the dryness of your soil. If it’s too dry to maintain plantlife, aeration is probably a good idea. This is especially common in arid climates where rainfall is scarce.

The best time of year to aerate your lawn varies according to what species of grass you grow. If you have cool-season grass, you should complete this process in early spring or early fall. However, if you have warm-season grass, it’s better to wait until early summer. No matter what time of year it is, though, make sure you wait to start until about a day after a light rain shower. That way, your soil is moist enough to work with. (Tip: If you’re working on a tight schedule and Mother Nature just isn’t cutting it, try watering your grass with a hose about a day before you start!)

So, you know when to start your aeration. Now, you want to know how often you should repeat it, right? Here’s the thing. Like most lawncare processes, it depends. In this case, you need to find out what type of soil you have in your yard. If you have clay soil, it will compact easily and should be aerated 1-2 times per year. If you use your lawn to park cars, or it is heavily used in general, you should complete this task annually. If your soil is more sandy, you can aerate it once a year, or you can even get away with doing it every other year!

There are a few important things to remember about lawn aeration. For one thing, if your lawn is newly planted, you should wait at least a year before starting to aerate it. This gives the grass a chance to settle in. When you do start, make sure your yard is weed-free! If it isn’t, the process of aeration can spread seeds and make the weeds much more difficult to eradicate. Finally, make sure your soil is damp without being saturated. If the soil is too dry, the lawn will become stressed and your grass will dry up. If it’s too wet, the machines used to aerate will be unable to get deep enough to complete the job. Your best bet is to either let the rain do its work 24 hours prior to aeration or to water for just one hour a day before you begin.

Getting the home of your dreams may seem a little intimidating. The truth is, though, the work that goes into lawn care and maintenance makes a big difference. Just think – by getting your lawn aerated only once a year, you can keep your home beautiful. Doesn’t that sound worth it?