Everyone wants to be the proud owner of a happy home. For most, this vision includes a beautiful and healthy lawn. Lawn aeration is a key element to maintaining this dream property. This process can be confusing for beginners, so here are the basic ideas you want to keep in mind when first starting out!

First, make sure that your lawn needs to be aerated. If your yard is the gathering place for kids in the neighborhood or if your house was recently built, you are a candidate. Does your soil dry out easily or feel spongy? This is another tell-tale sign that lawn aeration is necessary. The easiest way to tell if this work should be done is to check the dryness of your soil. If it’s too dry to maintain plantlife, aeration is probably a good idea. This is especially common in arid climates where rainfall is scarce.

The best time of year to aerate your lawn varies according to what species of grass you grow. If you have cool-season grass, you should complete this process in early spring or early fall. However, if you have warm-season grass, it’s better to wait until early summer. No matter what time of year it is, though, make sure you wait to start until about a day after a light rain shower. That way, your soil is moist enough to work with. (Tip: If you’re working on a tight schedule and Mother Nature just isn’t cutting it, try watering your grass with a hose about a day before you start!)

So, you know when to start your aeration. Now, you want to know how often you should repeat it, right? Here’s the thing. Like most lawncare processes, it depends. In this case, you need to find out what type of soil you have in your yard. If you have clay soil, it will compact easily and should be aerated 1-2 times per year. If you use your lawn to park cars, or it is heavily used in general, you should complete this task annually. If your soil is more sandy, you can aerate it once a year, or you can even get away with doing it every other year!

There are a few important things to remember about lawn aeration. For one thing, if your lawn is newly planted, you should wait at least a year before starting to aerate it. This gives the grass a chance to settle in. When you do start, make sure your yard is weed-free! If it isn’t, the process of aeration can spread seeds and make the weeds much more difficult to eradicate. Finally, make sure your soil is damp without being saturated. If the soil is too dry, the lawn will become stressed and your grass will dry up. If it’s too wet, the machines used to aerate will be unable to get deep enough to complete the job. Your best bet is to either let the rain do its work 24 hours prior to aeration or to water for just one hour a day before you begin.

Getting the home of your dreams may seem a little intimidating. The truth is, though, the work that goes into lawn care and maintenance makes a big difference. Just think – by getting your lawn aerated only once a year, you can keep your home beautiful. Doesn’t that sound worth it?

The best Canadian lawns are made up of a mix of different types of grass species. Lawns that have several different kinds of grass can tolerate a wider range of growing conditions and are usually less vulnerable to pest damage than lawns that only have one type of grass. Grass is either cool-season or warm-season with specific requirements for thriving.

Kentucky bluegrass
Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) is the main grass in most lawn mixtures, and there are several good reasons for this. It is a cool-season grass and has the deep blue-green colour that is so popular. It is cold-hardy as well as heat-hardy, which means it is dependable for many climates. It likes full sunlight, but a little shade is all right. It should be watered frequently and needs well-drained soil because it has a shallow root system. Kentucky bluegrass can be fertilized regularly and flourishes in the fall and spring.

It can be easily grown from seed and gives a highly dense attractive lawn. It is used for showcase places such as golf courses, cemeteries, parks as well as private homes.

Ryegrass
Ryegrass (Lolium perenne) is a cool-season grass that is better for cooler climates such as Toronto. It can sustain itself during winter and extended dry spells. It is a very strong type of grass and is used for sports fields, private homes, hotels, playgrounds and other places where there is a lot of foot traffic on the lawn. It should be fertilized about three to five times a year and watered regularly, but it can go without water for a while.

Tall Fescue
Tall Fescue (Festuca arundinacea) is a cool-season grass that grows well in sun or shade. It is very low maintenance so is popular for commercial grounds, playing fields as well as private homes. It is compatible with other types of grass and has a deep root system, which is why it can tolerate times of drought and heat. It is the most heat tolerant of all the cool-season grasses. This is why it is the grass of choice for public areas and playing fields where there may not be much irrigation. It takes up to two weeks to sprout so it is slow to become established as a lawn. It should only be fertilized two to four times a year.

Bermuda grass
Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) is a warm-season grass that likes hot weather and needs a lot of water to stay green. It provides a very short lawn, but needs lots of sunlight. This is a good grass for putting green because it can be mowed to ½ to 1/8th inch. Bermuda grass can be mixed with perennial ryegrass to keep a good looking lawn during the summer heat. The ryegrass will die off in the late spring and the Bermuda grass will take over. This will happen again in the fall.

Canada blue grass
Canada blue grass (Poa compressa) is a very hardy cool-season grass that is planted in the northern United States and Canada. It is a fine-textured grass and is a creeper. It is very low maintenance, so it is planted in conservation areas such as on the banks of streams and in places that are difficult to access for upkeep. It will grow in very poor, rocky or sandy soil and likes full or partial sunlight.

Bags of grass seed from the store probably have a little of each of these types of grasses. This is to ensure that something works and the purchaser gets a lawn. It may not look uniform, but it will be green. However, it is possible to have a gorgeous lawn with a little care about the purpose of the lawn, cool or warm-season grasses, soil type, sunlight or shade and drainage. Whichever type of lawn it is, it will prevent soil erosion, buffer temperatures, absorb water and filter pollution.

Who doesn’t love the smell of freshly cut grass, the feel of soft blades under foot and the look of a thriving, green carpet? We love our lawns, but sometimes, it feels like our lawns don’t love us back. If you’re sick of fighting brown spots and mowing until you drop, perhaps it’s time to change your approach. Consider these three tips to start, and contact us for help from the pros.

1. Give It a Drink
Put away the spreadsheets and schedules. Watering your grass doesn’t have to be rocket science. Think about the ideal environment for your grass. You want to encourage deep roots, keep your grass from drowning and discourage lawn pests. This means that putting your sprinkler out every day is the last thing that you should be doing for an established lawn.

Instead, water established lawns once a week or less, but saturate the soil. Your grass’s roots will chase the water deeper into the soil as it sinks in. You can tell when your grass needs water when it stops springing back when stepped on. Water in early morning or at night to reduce evaporation. Freshly laid grass seed, on the other hand, should be watered lightly once a day until the first time it’s mowed. Afterward, switch to the deep-soak method. The pros like oscillating sprinklers for deep soaks.

2. Pour On the Dressing
Are you dressing your outdoor greens? If not, you should be. Lawn dressings, sometimes called bio-fertilizers, are mixtures of organic compost that revitalize soil and give grass longevity. While fertilizers feed plants directly, lawn dressings feed the soil. They attract beneficial microbes and release nutrients over time. The resulting grass is more disease-, insect- and drought-resistant.

A little goes a long way with lawn dressing. A scant six-millimeter coating every fall and spring is sufficient. Make sure you rake up any leaves and grass clippings before applying it, and use your rake to work it into the grass after application. It needs to sit directly on your soil for maximum benefits. You’ll find that you need to water, mow and re-seed less often over the seasons.

3. Embrace Clover
Once upon a time, clover was considered a lawn staple. The judge of a high-quality grass seed was a high clover content. What spelled its demise as prized vegetation? Manufacturers. The companies that manufactured herbicides couldn’t figure out how to keep their latest creations from killing clover as well. Instead of fixing their product, they demonized clover through advertising. The former lawn darling fell from grace and has been considered a weed ever since.

In reality, clover is a boon to lawns and the environment as a whole. It adds nitrogen to soil, is drought-resistant, attracts beneficial organisms and is evergreen. It even works synergistically with normal turf grass, reducing the need for chemical fertilizers and helping it establish faster. Instead of seeing clover as an enemy, embrace its rich green color and pom pom flowers. Your lawn will thank you.

Just a few, simple changes to your lawn care routine will yield a fuller, healthier lawn in the very first year. The longer you stick with it, the stronger your grass will become. These tips will set you on your way to a picture-perfect lawn.