Aeration is a very beneficial treatment for your lawn; aeration allows you to loosen up compacted soil so that water and essential nutrients can reach the roots of your grass. After core aeration specifically, you will be left with plugs of soil on your lawn. What are you supposed to do with them? Your best option is to leave them be, but you could also break them up or get rid of them altogether.

You could leave the cores be so they can break down.

Aeration plugs left behind by aerator near Romeo, MI.

Think about it: the tiny cores that cover your lawn as a result of aeration are cut directly from your lawn. Therefore, any essential nutrients that were in your soil are in the cores as well. Because you are removing the cores, you are also removing a small amount of these essential nutrients from your soil. This means that if you leave the cores to decompose, they will reenter your soil and those essential nutrients will absorb back into your lawn, replenishing what you lost from the aeration treatment.

You could rake the cores to break them up faster.

You have a few different options if you do not want to get rid of the cores but do want to encourage them to decompose a bit faster.

  • Rake the cores: If you are a bit impatient and want the cores gone as soon as possible, another option is to rake the cores to break them up a little bit. This will speed up the decomposition process and allow those essential nutrients to reenter your soil faster.
  • Mow the cores: If you do not have the time or energy to rake, another way to break up the cores faster is to mow your lawn; your lawn mower will separate the plugs and leave the loose soil behind to absorb back into your lawn.
  • Water the cores: A third way to speed up the decomposition process for your cores after aeration is to wait for rainfall or simply water your lawn yourself.

If you get rid of the soil cores that were removed from your lawn during core aeration, you are throwing away part of your yard. Breaking them down yourself is a good way to redistribute that soil back into your yard.

You could collect the cores and get rid of them altogether.

If you truly cannot stand those little cores covering your lawn, you could always pick them up and get rid of them altogether. However, this is not recommended because those cores can be very beneficial to your lawn. Once they decompose and absorb back into your soil, they will release the essential nutrients that they contain into your lawn once again. Lawns also create what is known as a thatch layer. This is a layer under your grass that is created by microorganisms breaking down organic matter. Because the cores removed from your lawn contain this organic matter, this means that even more essential nutrients are at stake if you choose to get rid of the cores.

Besides essential nutrients, soil cores also contain natural fertilizer and helpful microorganisms that can contribute to the overall health of your lawn.

Call your local lawn care professionals to schedule aeration services today!

Aeration holes left from aerator near Chesterfield, MI.

Aeration is one of the most advantageous lawn care treatments you can receive. If you are looking to better your lawn's health from the inside out, call us at Big Lakes Lawncare to schedule an aeration treatment. Our lawn care professionals have been providing the highest quality lawn care services to residents in Macomb, Shelby, Chesterfield, MI and throughout the surrounding areas since 2014. Call us at (586) 200-0855 today to schedule a consultation!