Ready or not....

Here they come...actually, some were out last week aerating the hell out of your ice mounds and every time I see them out this early pushing their Ryans and Bluebirds up and down the street, I can't help but think, this is our version of a slave-labour sweat shop.


Seems I'm always preaching patience at this time of the year to no avail. Mainly because it's hard to sit by while your neighbour is having an aeration and you are not. But know this: an aeration prior to the last week of April can be potentially damaging to your lawn. If it's too soggy you have tire tracks and ripped turf. If it's still frozen, how deep of a core do you expect to get?


The whole process is meant to help your lawn by alleviating compaction, opening up the soil to nutrients, breaking up thatch and creating a stronger root system, not the opposite for the sake of saving a few bucks.


Another excellent reason to hold off is the weed seed factor. If your lawn has been a troubled weed-infested breeding ground in recent years, perhaps you should wait until the fall to have that aeration. Hundreds of the weedy little buggers inhabit each square foot of lawn in dormancy and are waiting for ideal conditions. So then you have the lawn aerated pulling up cores with those weed properties in them and expose them to the elements, wondering why the lawn gets so weedy in May.


Yet many still have it done this early in the year and continue year after year.


Now some may think I am spouting off to create more aerations for myself when the time comes, or deny some student the ability to make a buck. That's not the case. I am simply giving you the 411 so you can make a more informed decision on the proper healthy care for your lawn. You can always tell whoever, you want the aeration, but at a later date. If they want the job, they'll come back.
So...
The next time, resist the urge and wait it out. You will find the grass is greener, on your side of the fence for a change.