Lawn Aeration Milwaukee Archive

4 Facts About Aeration

As a homeowner, there is a lot to know about lawn care if you want a beautiful looking yard. One of those things is aeration. Knowing what it is, when to do it, and if you need it are good to know so that you can have, not only a beautiful yard, but also a healthy lawn. Central Services, the expert in lawn care and lawn maintenance, offers aeration services and can help you determine if your lawn would benefit from an aeration treatment. Here are four facts you should know about aeration.

1. What is aeration?

Aeration is a process of perforating soil with small holes which allows air, water, and nutrients to penetrate the grass roots. The main reason for aerating is to decrease soil compaction and help roots grow deeply, producing a stronger and more vigorous lawn. Compacted soils have too many solid particles within a certain space which prevents proper circulation of air, water and nutrients within it. Excess lawn thatch or heavy organic debris buried under the grass surface can also starve the roots from these essential elements.

2. How to determine if lawn aeration is needed?

There are a few determining factors that would indicate if an aeration treatment would be good for your lawn. If you’ve noticed that your turfgrass isn’t looking it’s best or water is having difficulty penetrating through the soil surface, it may be time to aerate. Also, if your lawn gets a lot of foot traffic or use, such as children and pets running around the yard, that contributes to soil compaction. Finally, if your lawn dries out easily or has a spongy feel it might mean there is an excessive thatch problem. To check, take a shovel and remove a slice of lawn about four inches deep. If the thatch layer is greater than one-half inch, aeration is recommended.

3. When should you aerate?

Some may think that summer is always the perfect time to work on your lawn when the days are longest, and the benefits of the sunlight is at its most. However, the ideal time to aerate is during cool seasons in the spring or early fall. Planning for aeration and fertilization in the fall gives cool-season grasses a buffer to protect the grass from summer drought stress and ideally enough time before the first winter frost arrives. Spring is also a good time for aeration because it’s the growing season.

4. What are the specific benefits achieved by aerating?

One of the best benefits of lawn aeration is that it can improve the overall health of your grass and reduce it’s maintenance requirements. 
Regular aeration breaks up compacted soil and lawn thatch that make it hard for your lawn to breathe. This improves your lawns ability to get nutrients and oxygen, encouraging more vigorous root growth. Reducing soil compaction also helps reduce water runoff and/or puddling and enhanced heat and drought stress tolerance.

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If you think your lawn could benefit from an aeration treatment, contact us today to schedule this service or just to discussion any questions you may have. We look forward to hearing from you!

Lawn Aeration: What it is and how it works

 

The key to a thick, green lawn is making sure that the grass receives the proper nutrients at the proper time. Oftentimes, despite regular watering and dedicated feeding, lawns can still struggle to thrive. This may be due to tightly compacted soil topped with thick thatch that is preventing the nutrients from reaching the grass’ root system. In order to loosen the soil and create those pathways that allow the vital nutrients through, your lawn needs aeration. In Waukesha and Milwaukee, your best bet for lawn aeration services is Central Services.

Lawn aeration is most effective as a regular, preventative procedure. While it will definitely help to bring an unhealthy lawn back to life, it is extremely effective at maintaining a healthy lawn, and giving you insurance that your lawn will remain healthy and resilient.

There are many indications that your lawn needs aeration. Your lawn is probably a good candidate for aeration if it gets heavy use, since children and pets running around the yard contribute to soil compaction. If your lawn was installed as part of a new home construction, the topsoil may be stripped or buried, and the grass established on subsoil has likely been compacted by construction traffic. If your soil dries out easily and has a spongy feel, your lawn may have an excessive thatch problem. If your lawn was established by sod, you may have a soil layering issue. Soil layering means that soil of finer texture, which comes with imported sod, is layered over the existing coarser soil. This layering disrupts drainage, as water is held in the finer-textured soil, and leads to compacted conditions and poor root development. Aeration breaks up the layering, allowing water to flow through the soil more easily and reach the roots.

A lawn should be aerated during the growing season, allowing the grass to quickly grow and fill the small holes left during the process. Lawns that are in major need of aeration may do best when aerated twice yearly, once in early spring and once in fall.

You could spend the time and effort to determine the best method of aerating your lawn, rent a heavy and unwieldy aerating machine from your local home center, and then spend hours making the passes through your lawn, but a skilled hand will always give you the best results possible. That’s why Central Services recommends that you hire us for your lawn aeration work in the Milwaukee and Waukesha areas.  

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Central Services are your local experts in lawn aeration, not to mention landscape design, grounds maintenance, snow removal, and much more! Contact us today at (262) 548-0005 to get started on your project today!

Slit Seeding Your Lawn

Does your lawn need a Slit Seeding?

The major benefit in slit seeding over conventional seeding is that you get direct seed to soil contact. It allows for a clean approach without disrupting your existing turf.  It can help improve the overall appearance of your lawn.  A slit seeder is a machine that slices even rows into the soil /existing turf, and drops grass seed directly into those rows to improve the growth rate. With our slit seeding service we also apply a starter fertilizer of slow release nutrients to promote healthy growth. The key to a successful slit seeding is the quality of seed, fertilizer, and adequate water.

A slit seeding service can be offered in conjunction with other services,  to improve results.  A great program we are offering includes a slit seeding, with applying an organic compost mixture over the seed to aid in the growth process.  The mixture promotes extra nutrients, holds moisture better, and is an all-natural material.

A slit seeding can be included with a lawn Aeration, where lawn aeration is first performed then followed by the slit seeding program to help relieve compacted soil, and better seed germination.

Slit seeding is also recommended after a dethatching service to improve bare areas where the thatch has been removed.

If you think you are interested in a slit seeding service please contact our office and a lawn professional will answer any questions you may have, do a site analysis, and get you the necessary quote.

Organic Over Seeding Program

Slit Seeding Program

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What is Lawn Aeration?

What is lawn aeration? Aerating your lawn is literally putting holes in your lawn. This simple act will deliver more oxygen to the roots and allow the soil to “breathe”; it allows more organic fertilizers and nutrients to get access to the root system; water is also able to reach the root system better and faster; it helps breath up thatch; it loosens up tight, compacted soil to allow for better, healthier growth. Aeration can be done by hand or via a power aerator.

The big argument is when to aerate your lawn. If you have a relatively healthy lawn that gets plenty of moisture, once a year is fine, usually in the spring or late summer/fall. If your lawn requires more attention than that, a second time that year would not be a wasted effort.

For more information about Milwaukee lawn aeration, contact Central Services Landscaping for a quote.