Want Greener Grass Next Spring? Here's Why It's Crucial to Aerate Your Lawn in Fall

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Mowing, backyard pick up football games, and family barbecues can leave your yard looking worse for wear when summer comes to a close. Aerating your lawn is the perfect way to refresh it. Over time, the soil in your yard becomes compacted, making it difficult for air and water to penetrate the soil and reach grass roots. Aerating loosens up the soil, providing grass with the water and nutrients it needs to grow. Aerating your soil also helps you get the best results from fall overseeding. Below, you’ll learn about all the ways your lawn benefits from aeration and how to aerate your lawn.

Benefits of Lawn Aeration

Fix soil compaction

The primary reason for aerating your lawn is that it helps counter soil compaction. Heavy rainfall, foot traffic, and heavy equipment, like a lawn tractor, can press soil particles tightly together, compacting it and preventing air and moisture from reaching grass roots.

Prevent puddling water

When the soil is compacted, it prevents water from soaking into the soil, which can cause it to puddle on the surface. When the water can’t soak into the soil, it can’t reach grass roots, which can cause grass to dry out and die. Aeration helps break up that compaction, so water can more easily penetrate the soil.

Encourage new growth

When soil compacts, it’s difficult for oxygen and water to penetrate it, depriving your grass of the nutrients it needs to survive and killing it, creating patchy areas in your lawn. Aerating the soil helps break up that compaction while also creating holes that allow oxygen to reach the grass roots, so it can grow and thrive.

Reduce thatch

Aeration can help manage the thatch layer that forms in your yard between the soil and grass roots. Aerating allows nutrients, water and air to reach the soil, which aids in the decomposition of thatch, preventing the thatch layer in your lawn from becoming too thick. While aeration can help in managing thatch, it’s not a substitute for dethatching, which may be necessary if that thatch layer has become too thick.

Why You Should Aerate Your Lawn in Fall

Aeration involves pulling plugs of soil out of the lawn, which stresses the grass. An aerated lawn is better able to recover during cooler fall weather than the heat of the summer. Aerating is also a common first step before overseeding, which is best done in the fall.

What Should You Do After Aerating Your Lawn in the Fall?

Overseed your lawn immediately after aerating. The holes in the soil created by aerating are an ideal place for seeds to germinate and grow.

How to Aerate Your Lawn

Step 1. Choose your aerating tool

Aerating involves pulling small plugs of soil out of the ground using a specialized tool called an aerator. Aerators come in a variety of types and sizes to suit varying yard sizes and budgets:

Core aerator: These machines resemble a large walk-behind mower and have a set of large hollow tines that remove plugs of soil from the yard. Core aeration is the most effective way of aerating the soil to allow air, water, nutrients and new grass seed to reach the soil. Core aerators can also be expensive to rent.
Spike aerator: This type of aerator punches small holes in your lawn. Spike aerators can take many forms, from rolling spike aerators that you walk behind, to tow-behind models for a riding tractor, to spiked shoes that you wear. Though cheaper than a core aerator, spike aerators are not as effective at aerating the soil.
Garden Fork: If you have a smaller lawn to aerate, or if you’re trying to loosen up isolated areas of compacted soil, you can use a garden fork. This tool, which resembles a pitchfork, has a handle and four large, flat tines that dig into the earth to aerate it.

Buying or renting a rolling spike aerator is a more affordable way to aerate your lawn.

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Step 2. Aerate your lawn

Make passes across your lawn in a striped pattern, overlapping the previous pass with each new one. Walk at a slow pace to allow the aerators’ tines to dig into the soil and do its job. After covering the entire lawn, make a second series of passes that are perpendicular to the first ones.

Step 3: Water

Aerating leaves small plugs of soil on your lawn. Don’t collect them. The plugs will break down and add nutrients to the soil. Water the soil, then consider overseeding it to make your lawn thicker.

How to Overseed Your Lawn

If you're planning to aerate your lawn, you should also think about overseeding it. It's an ideal time to do so, as aeration allows seeds to more easily reach the soil while also making it easier for them to receive oxygen and water. Here's how to do it.

Step 1: Choose your seed

Choose a grass seed mix that compliments the existing turf and works with your growing zone.

Step 2: Load your spreader

Load the seed into a walk-behind or handheld spreader. Check the instructions on the seed bag regarding overseed rates and set the release rate on the spreader accordingly.

Step 3: Spread the seed

Begin spreading the seed by walking in a back and forth striped pattern over your lawn. Overlap each pass slightly and maintain a steady pace to ensure good coverage.

Step 4: Rake and water

Lightly rake the seed so it makes good seed-to-soil contact. Water the lawn two times a day for two to four weeks until the seed germinates. The goal is to keep the soil moist without water-logging the seeds. Back off watering once the seeds have germinated.

Is Fall Lawn Aeration Worth It?

Fall aeration is worth the cost and effort. By helping nourish the lawn while preventing the soil from becoming compacted, aeration can have a significant impact on the health of your lawn, especially if you combine it with overseeding.