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Wrong season to aerate?
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Posted by
wacogardener 8 (
My Page) on
Tue, Jul 19, 11 at 13:35
| Hello all.
I've reserved a coring aerator to use on my lawn this weekend, but have read conflicting stances on aerating in the summer. Will it harm my lawn to aerate by allowing moisture to leave the soil (I have a relatively newly-laid St. Augustine lawn over pretty heavy clay) or will it be alright to go ahead with?
Thank you!
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Wrong season to aerate?
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| I wouldnt. I do mine in fall. The temperature alone will stress the grass. Wait til fall. |
RE: Wrong season to aerate?
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| I agree with Kevin. I do mine fall and spring. I've never heard any reason not to do it in the summer but I think almost everyone around here just does it in the spring and fall. |
RE: Wrong season to aerate?
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The reason to do it in fall is there is hopefully more moisture in the ground and the tines will go deeper into the soil.
Also will cause less stress to the grass than in middle of summer. |
RE: Wrong season to aerate?
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| Where are you located? You want to aerate when the lawn is actively growing and when it has enough time to recover before it goes dormant. If you had a cool season lawn in a northern climate, that would be spring or fall. If you have a warm season grass in a hot climate, that would be late spring or late summer/very early fall. If you have a warm season grass in a transitional climate, summer would work as long as you water it. |
RE: Wrong season to aerate?
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| I'm located in Texas, and my plan was to aerate, followed immediately with an application of liquid hummus and fertilizer to help break up some of the clay soil beneath, in turn allowing the roots of my grass to go deeper. Right now because of the clay I have drainage problems in certain areas of the lawn, and my grass is having a tough time with any sort of growth. This is a new house and lawn, just finished in April by the builder of our home, but the landscaper that they hired did a really poor job, so now I'm stuck trying to correct his many mistakes! |
RE: Wrong season to aerate?
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| Okay, location helps. I should have guessed, though, with the name of your city apparently in your user ID. It definitely is not as big a deal with warm season grass. Enjoy the heat while you work. :) Aerating with a walk-behind is no picnic - for me anyways. |
RE: Wrong season to aerate?
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| Yes, with a warm-season grass, go ahead and aerate now. Go over it at least twice if you can. If you can, remove the cores with a blower, and water heavily afterwards if possible (fill the holes with water). |
RE: Wrong season to aerate?
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| Good deal, I will go ahead with it then. I appreciate your feedback! |
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