Aeration of New Sod

Mackinb1 – posted 23 September 2004 15:30

How soon should I wait to have my lawn aerated after the sod has been put down?

I was going to rent a core aerator.

I live in Ohio.

cohiba – posted 24 September 2004 06:38

Take a sample from the lawn. Use a 6″ knife and cut a triangle about 2″ on each side and about 6″ deep. Pry the sample out of the turf and examine the roots. As long as the roots are established well, and go a minimum of 2″ deep, you should be able to core aerate. My questions are these: 1. Why are you aerating? Is there compaction on your new sod? Shouldn’t be, compaction takes years to build in a residential lawn unless you had a huge party or vehicle traffic. 2. What type of turf are we talking about?

Hope this helps………………

mackinb1 – posted 24 September 2004 12:36

The problem is that the home is new and the builders do not do much to the compacted clay soil before they lay the sod. I wanted to aerate to encourage better root growth with the compacted soil beneath.I had the sod laid in may and thought the fall would be the best time to aerate and fertilize.

cohiba – posted 27 September 2004 16:43

Are your roots grabbing onto the soil now? If so, then yes, fall is a good time to aerate. Fall Fertilizer, for cool season turf, should be done now and then again in november. 1# Nitrogen each application.

Sounds like your on the right track. Good Luck……………

ted – posted 01 October 2004 21:47

i’m a little concerned about aerating a newly sodded lawn. i don’t think you need it, and i don’t think the tines on a rental aerator will be long enough.

Lawn Medic – posted 05 October 2004 13:23

If your turf is green and growing well, don’t mess with it…..yet! Give it at least a full season of root growth before you aerate! “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!!” Just remember, sod came from a farm with high maintenance, don’t forget to feed it every 4 wks… Good luck.