Fall Lawn Care Tips: Aeration and Overseeding

Fall Lawn Care Tips: Aeration and Overseeding

Indianapolis lawn aerationTiming is everything – even when it comes to taking care of your lawn. And as fall approaches, every to-do list should include these two things: aeration and overseeding.

Aeration

Sometimes called core aeration, this process perforates the soil by removing plugs – or cores – and depositing them on the surface, allowing them to break down. Why is this important?

Aeration helps:

  • stimulate lawn growth
  • prevent disease
  • improve fertilizer uptake
  • reduce water dependency
  • promote stronger turf roots
  • reduce soil compaction
  • reduce thatch buildup

Ideally, you should aerate twice a year (in both spring and fall), but once a year is our minimum recommendation.

Once you are done aerating, the simple act of watering the lawn helps break down the scattered cores, while also providing direct stimulation to those newly exposed roots in the ground. It also provides the perfect environment for overseeding .

Overseeding

Overseeding is one of the most important elements for a beautiful lawn, yet it is often overlooked.  It helps create a thick and rich turf, which also keeps weed growth to a minimum. Believe it or not, grass actually gets tired, just like humans. It needs to be rejuvenated at least every five or six years, and overseeding will help do this.

Overseeding Tips

  • If you plan to overseed, you’ll want to aerate your yard earlier in the season, ideally in late August or early September. This allows for maximum germination time throughout the fall.
  • Before you aerate or overseed, mow your lawn shorter than normal. This allows the seed to make direct contact with the soil.
  • Overseed the same day as aeration, if possible, or within 24 hours. The earlier you seed, the more open and receptive the new holes are, and the cores have yet to break down.
  • If you plan to both fertilize and overseed, use a starter fertilizer without a pre-emergent. Pre-Emergent will obstruct the germination process of the seed.
  • Keep the seed moist until you have good germination. Follow product watering directions carefully and never let the seed dry out.

If you have questions regarding fall lawn care, or you’d like to know more about aeration and overseeding, give All Seasons a call! We’re here to help.