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questions on core aeration
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Posted by
aggierose Tx (
My Page) on
Wed, Jun 15, 11 at 10:05
| Can I get good results from renting an aerator from home depot, or are there other machines that will do a better job? If I do rent the machine from HD, is it easy to operate? I don't think my husband is going to want to help me with this project. How deep should the holes be? Would a professional landscaping company have machines that would do a better job? Can I mess anything up doing this myself? Thanks! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: questions on core aeration
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| The machines at HD are the same ones the pros use. A homeowner can do a much better job than a pro because you can make several passes where a pro will only make 1. As for the husband, well he needs to get involved as the machine is very heavy, bulky, and difficult to turn. It takes two men to load and unload unless you have ramps. |
RE: questions on core aeration
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| Thank you txweed. Is it possible for me to put too many holes in the yard? The machine I saw on HD website said that the depth was adjustable. How deep would I want the holes to be? |
RE: questions on core aeration
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| Yes, technically you could put too many holes in the lawn, but that is not something to worry about. 2 to 4 passes is good. As long as the machine is a core aerator in that it removes the plugs, and not a spike aerator then the HD one would work great. It's no picnic working those things - they're a pain, but worth it. You will want your plugs to go somewhere around 2" or 4" down. Just a guess, but there's a good chance you will want to set the depth all the way down, so the holes will be as deep as the machine can go - I doubt that would be more then 4" really. |
RE: questions on core aeration
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| Don't forget to mark your sprinkler heads and anything else that you would want to avoid running over w/ the aerator. In fact, make the husband do that since it's also his home that you're trying to improve :). |
RE: questions on core aeration
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| If you have any kind of grade on your lawn, the aerators can be quite a handful. I don't have any experience using one on a flat lawn but on my sloped lawn, it was all I could do to keep it going straight and I had to hold it down pretty hard to get it to punch the holes. I decided after that that it was worth it to pay a professional. |
RE: questions on core aeration
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| The other thing(s) that make it hard are rocks and roots. I have both. I did the job once and felt like I had been riding a bucking bronco for 4 hours. When Weed describes it as heavy, he ain't a kiddin'. The one I rented weighed about 100 pounds and came with 150 pounds of additional weights to put on it after it was off the trailer. How deep it goes depends on the weight of the machine and how hard your soil is. If the reason you want to irrigate is that you have hard soil, then I would suggest doing something simple first. Spray the lawn with baby shampoo at 3 ounces per 1,000 square feet, once a week, right before you irrigate. Do that for 2 months and your soil should soften up. The reason it is hard is the soil has become too dry for too long at some time in the past. When that happens the beneficial fungi in the soil that normally keep it soft (after irrigation) have died. The baby shampoo will allow the water to penetrate deeper into the soil which will keep the deep soil moist longer and provide a good environment for the fungi to come back. Spraying soap is a lot easier and less expensive than core aerating. If you are going to core aerate anyway, run it in 8 directions of the compass; spray the soap spray afterwards; then irrigate like you were trying to flood all the holes. Again the idea is to get deep penetration of water into the soil. The holes give you a 3-4 inch head start. Hopefully they will not fill up quickly. |
RE: questions on core aeration
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| I rented a core aerator machine about 5 years ago. I did not see much of an improvment the following year. My next door neighbor has his lawn service company aerate his lawn every other fall. I reseed my lawn every year and apply my own fertilizers. I think my lawn looks better than his. I am not convinced of the benefits of mechanical aeration. The one exception if the soil severly compacted due to a vehicles driving over it for extended periods. |
RE: questions on core aeration
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RE: questions on core aeration
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This is not a job for a woman or an old man like myself.
The machine knocks the hell out of your arms and shoulders.
I have a riding mower and bought a core aerator that can be pulled with the tractor..It worked well using four concrete blocks and slightly moist soil! |
RE: questions on core aeration
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| Renting an aerator from HomeDepot is a good idea, I remember there is a tool rental business at HomeDepot named CompactPower, they have very nice aerators + seeders available for rent. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Tool Rental
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