Why Aeration & Overseeding Services Are Effective in Fall

As summer comes to a close in Macomb and surrounding Michigan areas, it’s time to plan for aeration and overseeding services. When you aerate your yard, small soil plugs are removed to allow water, nutrients, and air to reach your lawns root system. After aeration is completed overseeding is the next step in rejuvenating your lawn. Overseeding after aeration allows the new seed to penetrate your soil for better seed-to-soil contact. Overseeding should only be done during your fall aeration service.

Aeration and Overseeding During Mid September

An infographic explaining the lawn aeration process and benefits.

Throughout the summer months your yard sees a lot of activity such as walking, mowing and playing. All these activities are the cause of soil compaction and an overly stressed lawn. As the ground becomes more tightly packed, water, oxygen, and nutrients struggle to reach the root system. Aerating your lawn after a busy summer helps to relieve this problem and break up the compacted soil.

Lawns in Michigan benefit from fall aeration and overseeding services. In fact we recommend aeration paired with overseeding only during the fall.

Overseeding your lawn after your fall aeration service offers many benefits. Once your lawn has been aerated grass seed can fall into the punctured holes. This allows the seed to have direct contact with the soil to promote better germination. Your new lawn will have approximately two to three months to establish growth before the cold sets in. The shorter mild days and cooler nights are the perfect conditions to promote seed germination. When spring approaches your new lawn will have another couple months to grow a deeper root system prior to the summer heat.

What about aeration and overseeding in April?

Lawn grass seeds being poured by hand near Shelby, MI.

Spring is not an ideal time to aerate your lawn but there may be certain circumstances that require it. If the soil has become too compact over the winter your grass will struggle to grow and will need to be aerated. Aerating in April is only necessary if you could not do it in September or if the previous summer was exceptionally hot, and the fall was unusually cold. Grass needs time to adjust to the seasons, and aerating too often can damage the lawn.

We prefer to aerate in the fall but it can be beneficial in the spring under certain circumstances, but we never recommend overseeding in the spring. With the large amount of rain we receive in the spring, your lawn is more prone to various diseases and increased spread of fungus. Spring aeration can also cause grassy weeds to thrive in the same manner as grass by opening up the root system, more than likely a pre-emergent hasn't been applied and the weeds can really take over.

Our team can help you determine what is best for your lawn when it comes to aeration and overseeding!

At Big Lakes Lawncare, we know when to aerate and when to overseed. We take care of yards in and around Macomb, Shelby, and Chesterfield, MI. Call us today at (586) 200-0855 for an estimate for aerating, overseeding, and fertilizing before fall becomes too cold.