Aerating your yard

Buttwheat – posted 27 April 2004 13:26

Have heard varying opinions – couple of questions:

1. I’ve heard aerating too soon after fertilizing is bad because it “breaks the fertilizer barrer” that keeps weeds down somehow – ?

2. Also heard wearing golf shoes when mowing can give your yard a sort of mini-aeration if you don’t want to do a real aeration for some reason (besides what I said above, I assume). Anyone know?

cohiba – posted 27 April 2004 14:22

Buttwheat,I think you may mean pre emergence barrier being broken. There is differing opinions on this. With me I would not aerate after putting out PreM unless I was going to go back in later with another application. As far as aeration is concerned it really depends on your soil types, turf condition and what your objectives are. If you are aerating to get air and nutrients into the soil have at it. Compaction is a huge killer of turf. If you are aerating for thatch control I suggest you do it when the turf is actively growing and the danger of weed infestation is over. As far as the golf shoe thing is concerned alot of shoes are soft spikes which do very little to spike the ground. The old shoes(metal spikes)do more penetration into the ground.But if it were as good as they say why have golf courses gotten away from allowing metal spikes? I prefer to spike with a star type of aerater in summer for water and air movement and core aerate in the spring and fall.

Clear as mud, huh?

Buttwheat – posted 27 April 2004 15:43

np and thx. Since we’re past the pre-emerg. season, not a factor I don’t think (been over a month since applied). Fall would be the ideal time, but it’s really really overdue and I’d like to deal w/it now and be done with it. The main reason I want to do it is due no such thing having been done in – ah probably decades – and drainage is really poor, which I think has contribued to moss growth etc. Course the other standard reasons factor in also.

[This message has been edited by Buttwheat (edited 27 April 2004).]

cohiba – posted 27 April 2004 17:22

I have a theory about moss and drainage problems on lawns. I’m willing to bet that your soil is high in Magnesium. The best way to rid yourself of that unwanted magnesium is to apply mass quantities of gypsum. The calcium (gypsum) will knock the magnesium off the soil “colloid” and leach it away through the soil profile. the soil that works best for turf will have a pH around 6.2 and have a calcium to magnesium ratio of 3:1. Organic matter will be high enough to feed micobes that produce N. worms will aerate your soil best and produce the N your lawn needs in the times of year that you are not fertilizing.

Most home lawns need aeration from mechanical means very infrequently. Unless you have alot of rugrats playing football in your yard or mow with a large area riding mower.

ted – posted 27 April 2004 21:01

moss has to do with poor airflow and low ph. see the purude web site on moss. good info

Buttwheat – posted 03 May 2004 12:26

Thx again. Re. the ph, I do put down lime every year…think adding gypsum or using instead of lime would work – ?

FYI for anyone interested, this article is dated, but offers a good if brief recap of moss and what can cause it:

http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/stateline/011108.html

PS what’s the purude site?

[This message has been edited by Buttwheat (edited 03 May 2004).]

ted – posted 03 May 2004 16:09

sorry spelled Purdue wrong. it the Purdue University ag web site. i type too fast.

cohiba – posted 03 May 2004 16:17

Buttwheat and all others,

Big question for you is this: Why do you add Lime to your lawn every year?

The main answer I bet is because “Hey, It can’t hurt”

The vast majority of lime sources in the USA come from two suppliers. Both supply Dolomitic Lime, which is high in Magnesium, as their main product. Calcium is need four times as much as magnesium.

With out taking a soil test how do you know that your lawn needs Lime? Its not like fertilizer, It doesn’t get used up as quickly as Nitrogen. It leaches about an inch per year on loamy soils with average rainfall. Still its not like your pH goes from 6.5 to 4 in one year. It takes years for that to happen if ever. I recommend that a soil test be done every few years so you know what you are working with. A soil pH of 6.2 and a calcium to magnesium ratio of 4:1,(?, I think I have to check),is perfect for most grasses. At this pH nutrients are all available and internal drainage is maximised. Also, I have found that tees (on my course)That are between 5.8 and 6.5 respond better to fertilizer, drain better and are less prone to temperature and traffic stresses. We are currently in the middle of a program to raise the pH on other tees to bring them in line with their peers. I still say that If the pH+calcium/magnesium ratio is correct then drainage will be better and Moss will not be a quick to invade.

If you get a test and need help with its analysis you can Fax me a copy and I would be glad to look at it. That’s how passionate I am about soil testing……

Good Luck…….