To see if the soil under your lawn needs aeration, try to insert à pencil. Source: www.kisspng.com, montage: laidbackgardener.blog

Question: I’ve been arguing with my lawn treatment company. They insist on aerating my lawn (it’s part of the program they want me to sign up for), but I don’t feel my lawn needs it and don’t want to pay for something I don’t need. I put in a good layer of top soil before I installed the lawn three years ago and I figure it’s still well aerated. What do you think?

GardenGuy12

Answer: I suspect you’re probably right! It’s usually only clay soils that are really in need of aeration.

However, to be sure whether your lawn needs aeration or not, just do a simple pencil test. Take a plain wooden pencil and try insert it into the lawn. If it slides in easily, the soil under the lawn is certainly well enough aerated that no aeration is necessary. If it’s hard to insert, you should consider an aeration.

Always follow aeration with top dressing so that lighter, well-aerated particles fill in the holes rather than dense, compacted soil. Source: georgialawninc.com

Note that, to be effective, aeration must always be followed by top dressing with compost or top-quality soil that will work its way back into the soil and help air circulate not just immediately, but for years to come. There is not much gained by aerating, then not top dressing, as the holes cored into the ground by the aerator will simply fill in with the same dense soil that caused the problem.

If your lawn treatment company is trying to force you into a treatment the lawn doesn’t need, or doesn’t offer top dressing when it does aerate, you should look elsewhere for lawn care service.