Spring aeration
Spiking the soil lets air and water reach the roots. In spring it matters most on compacted ground.
- When
- Apr 1 – Apr 30 (northern hemisphere) · Oct 1 – Oct 30 (southern)
- For
- Cool-season lawns (ryegrass, fescue, bluegrass)
- Needs
- aerator
- Rule
- sp-aerate · Hessayon; RHS; Mellor
Spiking the soil lets air and water reach the roots — important on compacted ground.
Why aerate in spring
After a wet winter, heavily used or clay lawns are often compacted and waterlogged at the surface. Opening the soil in April lets the roots breathe, helps spring rain soak in instead of pooling, and makes the spring feed more effective.
Spiking or hollow-tining
- Solid tines (spiking) are the usual spring choice: quick, light, and the lawn recovers in days.
- Hollow tines remove cores and do more good on badly compacted ground, but the lawn needs time to fill the holes. If you hollow-tine in spring, do it early in April and topdress straight after, so the surface does not dry out in summer.
How
- Choose a day when the soil is moist but not wet.
- Concentrate on the areas that need it: paths, play areas, the spots where water sits.
- Aim for holes 7–10 cm (3–4 in) deep and roughly 10 cm apart.
For most lawns the main aeration of the year is in autumn; see autumn lawn aeration.
Sources
- D.G. Hessayon — The Lawn Experthessayon
- Royal Horticultural Society — lawn guidancerhs
- David Mellor — The Lawn Biblemellor