You Need a Lawn Aerator if You Do Organic Gardening

A lawn aerator, it can take many forms. It can look like spikes at the bottom of a special shoe that you wear as you walk around your lawn. Now, if you have a sizeable lawn, using shoes with spikes wouldn’t probably be a good idea unless you really love walking.

It can also be a special tool that you step on as you move from one section of your lawn to another. Core aerators are suitable for clay soils while there are also spike aerators which are suitable for loamy or sandy soils. You can also choose between the manual types or plug type. Bottom line is that it’ll be faster than wearing those previously mentioned shoes.

Regardless of what it looks like and regardless of how it is designed, a lawn aerator’s job is actually pretty straightforward: it delivers air to your soil. Now, why is air so important? What is the big deal about lawn aeration?

You have heard that plants need sunlight and water to grow. But if it’s your first time to take care of a lawn, your grass could still look they need some attention even though the weather and watering schedule aren’t issues.

If you have a typical suburban American lawn, you probably use a grass variety that has a very thick root network. Normally, this is a good thing because a thick root network ensures that your lawn will probably survive certain dry periods.

If for whatever reason you can’t water your lawn for an extended period of time, if your grass has a very thick, dense, and deep root network, your lawn would probably be able to survive that dry period.

The downside to all of this, of course, is that the roots can be so interwoven and so dense that there’s really not much air in your soil. This is going to be bad news for a lot of the microbes, and small creatures like worms that live in your soil.

As you might already know, worms are your friends to maintaining a healthy lawn. Without worms and proper soil drainage keeping your lawn would give you some work fit for you.

Great soil requires a decent amount of biological by-products. We’re talking about worm castings, the dead tissue of plant and animal life, as well as their bones and other by-products. For such life to thrive in your soil, it needs air.

This is where lawn aerators come in. By loosening up the soil, you enable plants to spread out their roots and create air pockets. This is hard to do when the roots are so dense that they crowd out air. Like other living things, plants also require air to thrive and survive. Another problem involves compact soil.

Lawn aerators come in many different types and are therefore available in different prices. Those spiked shoes are quite cheap compared to the electric types. You don’t really want to get an expensive one if you don’t really need it. However, organic gardening does call for a lawn aerator.

Compact soils block nutrient flow

Depending on the soil type you have, you may have compact soil problems. For example, if your soil is mostly clay, this is going to be an issue because clay tends to stick together in large blocks, and this blocks out air and water flow. This is bad news. Why?

You need a decent water flow for nutrients to flow through your soil. Plant roots as powerful as they are, still need to be in fairly close proximity to the nutrients they require for optimal health.

When you aerate your lawn using a lawn aerator, you poke enough holes in the compact soil to break up large clamps that would have otherwise blocked nutrient flow, because they restrict water flow. The bottom line is pretty straightforward.

Well aerated soil is great for nutrient flow, which in turn is great for plant growth. You need the inner or deeper layer of your soil to be a hospitable place for roots, plant material like seeds, as well as microscopic organisms and earthworms, as well as fungi.

With a proper balance of life underneath the roots of your plants, your garden’s health is ensured. To make this all happen, you have to invest in a lawn aerator, so enough air gets through the soil so as to encourage microscopic life.

When you have a thriving balanced environment involving both flora and fauna under your lawn’s root system, a lot of organic materials are being generated and churned underneath. This ensures healthier grass and healthier plant life overall. You may not be able to see it since it’s all happening underground, but believe me, the overall bioorganic health profile of your lawn contributes to its overall wellbeing.

The problems of your lawn at its roots will be reflected by its grass above ground. Sometimes there’s really nothing wrong with how you water and fertilize them. But your lawn might not have the ability to absorb water and nutrients if the soil is too compact or doesn’t have enough space between the roots for air circulation.

So, by using an aerator, you proactively take measures to ensure the long-term health of your front lawn or backyard. It’s as vital as regularly watering your garden.

If you’re wondering if there could be another means to introduce air to the root system of your lawn, you can try poking using a stick but nothing will beat a law aerator specifically designed for its purpose.

Conclusion

A lawn aerator is pretty much a requirement to keeping your lawn green and beautiful. You can save your lawn from drying up and the troubles of having compact soil. Green and well-trimmed lawns can take a lot of work depending on other factors. But if the problem is about the lack of air to allow breathing space for worms and other beneficial microorganisms, you can do something about it by getting a lawn aerator.

About the author: Tom is a web designer, writer, and DIY fanatic. He enjoys traveling and hikes in the mountains. You can find more from him at his website leadingdiy.com.