Aeration and Seeding in New Jersey
For a healthy lawn through every season, it pays to take preventative care steps whenever possible. Here’s how aeration and seeding can help keep your grass lush and appealing all year.
What is Aeration?
Core aeration uses specialized equipment to cut through soil, the thatch layer, roots, and compacted hard soil. As its name suggests, aeration allows both air and water to permeate all levels of the earth. It’s possible to aerate your lawn with various handheld tools, but Dial uses professional equipment to get the job done effectively.
Why You Should Aerate Your Lawn?
For many homeowners, maintaining a healthy and attractive lawn is a daunting task. Between seeding, fertilizing, watering, weeding, and mowing, there are endless care tasks to perform. However, aerating is a crucial step in giving lawn grasses the right environment for growth.
Benefits of Lawn Aeration and Seeding:
- Removing lawn thatch, which is an organic matter that develops between the grass and underlying soil
- Allowing air, water, and nutrients to permeate the soil
- Enhancing surface drainage
- Breaking up soil compaction in high-traffic areas
- Distributing organic microbes throughout the soil layers
- Promoting seedling traction and growth
It’s understandable to want to avoid yet another lawn care step in your routine. Fortunately, Dial Environmental can handle lawn maintenance for you, making the process stress-free and straightforward.
Why Annual Aeration is Best
Performing aeration annually achieves a balance between allowing lawn growth and preventing weeds from cropping up. Each spring, your lawn will flourish with plenty of water and sunshine. But in summer, hot temperatures and dry environments mean high stress for grass.
Aerating after the summer heat helps your grass recover and primes new seedlings for growth. Dial Environmental uses a proven method of applying organic growth formulas, performing yearly aeration, and testing soil samples to ensure optimal lawn health.
When Should You Aerate Your Lawn?
Fall is the ideal time of year to perform lawn aeration. Because weeds don’t germinate during the fall, you avoid helping crabgrass and other annoyances grow. Plus, ventilation at this point allows nutrients to permeate the soil.
Choosing the wrong season to aerate can increase weed growth. For example, in spring, using aeration equipment can maneuver weed seeds to the surface. You’ll notice more weeds which worsen over time if you continue to choose the wrong season for aeration.
Aeration helps enhance drainage on the surface of your lawn, avoiding soggy spots where grass can become uneven. Standing water can also attract pests like mosquitoes, so aeration has another benefit for your lawn and garden.
How to Seed Your Lawn Post-Aeration – 5 Steps
If you plan to seed your existing lawn, aeration is an excellent first step. Whether you hire professionals or take a DIY approach, seeding your lawn takes a few specific steps. To achieve lush growth, you need to know what exists below the surface.
Step #1: Perform Soil Testing
Soil testing can establish what pH you are working with. The current pH indicates whether your soil needs more acidic or alkaline material. Acidic soil, for example, can benefit from the addition of lime. A highly alkaline reading could indicate the need for sulfur supplementation.
Step #2: Remove Rocks and Blockages
To grow healthy grass, you need deep soil for roots to flourish in. Check for—and remove—large rocks to give your seeds the best chance at growth. Removing rocks from the dirt avoids stunted growth in the roots of the lawn and help grasses “dig in” better.
Step 3: Add Organic Matter
Organic fertilizer and pH balancing ingredients help prep your lawn for seeding. It’s challenging and often impossible to grow healthy grass without the right nutrients. Instead of risking your grass dying off shortly after it grows, take the time to add the right minerals and materials to your lawn.
Step 4: Choose the Right Seed
Ideally, you should choose grass which is indigenous to your region. For professional advice, consult Dial for details on which seed will work best in your yard.
Step 5: Watering and Regular Care
Regular lawn care requires plenty of water. After spreading new seed, you should use a gentle spray of water to saturate the lawn. For the first week or two, regular watering—multiple times per day—helps seeds get a good start. You can begin watering a single time per day once the grass begins to sprout—but make sure it doesn’t dry out.
Get a Free Quote for Lawn Aeration & Seeding
Need help with yearly aeration and seeding? Get help from a local lawncare company like Dial Environmental. Our lawncare professionals will ensure that your lawn gets the nutrients it needs for that lush green color every homeowner wants. For help with soil testing, aerating, seeding, and more in the New Jersey area, reach out to our team for a free quote on all of our lawncare services.
We proudly serve communities throughout New Jersey, bringing our top-notch lawn care services to homeowners and businesses alike. Our local expertise allows us to tailor our services to meet the unique needs of each area, ensuring the health and beauty of your property. See if we service your city:
