Core aeration is a lawn care service that involves mechanically pulling up plugs of soil to loosen compaction and create passageways for nutrients and resources to reach the roots of your grass more easily. This service is necessary if you want to improve the overall health of your lawn in Michigan, but it's worthwhile to learn about the pros and cons so you know what to expect. The process of core aeration can be invasive and stress out your turf if done at the wrong time. However, it can heal quickly if you do it when it's strong enough to endure it. Additionally, it leaves behind soil cores, which some property owners don't find appealing, but they return nutrients to your lawn as they decompose. Overall, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks, ensuring nutrients, water, oxygen, and sunlight can penetrate the ground and reach your turf's roots where they're needed most.

What is core aeration?

Core aeration is a lawn care service that specifically addresses compacted soil on lawns. While compacted soil happens naturally, it can hinder the flow of nutrients and resources to the roots of your grass. Core aeration is the solution for that. The process involves mechanically pulling up plugs of soil from your lawn using an aerator. This machine pulls up hundreds of 2-3 inch long soil cores, leaving behind holes in the ground. As a result, it breaks up the hard, packed soil particles, and those holes serve as channels for nutrients, water, sunlight, and oxygen to penetrate the ground and reach your turf's roots.

What are the pros and cons of core aeration?

Lawn in Macomb, MI, with soil cores from aeration.

Core aeration is a highly beneficial lawn care service that can do wonders for your lawn, but it's important to understand the pros and cons of this process. The mechanical perforation of your lawn can be invasive, but it's highly effective at alleviating soil compaction for better nutrient access. It also helps to break up the thatch layer, which is a layer of organic material that can prevent vital resources from reaching the roots of your turf.

Additionally, core aeration can stress out your lawn if it's done at the wrong time, but performing it when it's strong enough to endure it will allow it to recover quickly afterward. It also leaves behind soil cores, which some property owners don't find appealing. However, these cores return nutrients to your lawn as they decompose, so it's best to leave them. If you really hate the look of them, you can even break them up with a rake or go over them with a lawn mower to speed up the process.

The best time to aerate your lawn is in the spring and fall.

Call us today to schedule our core aeration service!

If you want to ensure your lawn has optimal access to the nutrients and resources it needs to thrive, you've come to the right place! At Big Lakes Lawncare, we offer our core aeration service in the spring, in April, and in the fall, in September, as cool-season turfs are best equipped to endure this process and recover quickly afterward during these seasons. You can even go the extra mile and pair it with our overseeding service to fill in any bare, patchy areas with new grass growth! With us, you can trust that we'll do right by your lawn and give it the best chance of success!

We offer our core aeration service to residential and commercial properties, as well as HOAs, in Macomb, Shelby, Chesterfield, MI, and throughout the surrounding areas. Call us today at (586) 200-0855 to schedule this service, and let us help you achieve the lush, vibrant lawn of your dreams!