If you care about your lawn, chances are you’ve invested some time into having it aerated and fertilized. Aeration – the processing of perforating the soil with small holes – is an important step to a healthy and beautiful lawn. But did you know that the time of year you choose to aerate can determine how effective it really is for your landscaping? Here are four reasons to aerate your lawn in fall instead of spring.

4 Reasons to Aerate Your Lawn In Fall Instead of Spring

1. Relieve Soil Compaction 

One of the primary functions of aeration is to relieve natural compaction of the soil and roots of your lawn over time. Compacted soils have too many solid particles in too small a space, which prevents proper circulation of air, water and nutrients within the soil. After a warm summer, with less moisture and often more activity, your lawn is much more compacted and needs the extra breathing space to prepare properly for winter. 

2. Minimize Thatch Build-Up

Allowing your lawn to breathe also minimizes the buildup of pesky thatch, which makes your lawn more susceptible to diseases and reduces its resilience to drought. Excess lawn thatch or heavy organic debris buried under the grass surface can also starve the roots from needed nutrients (see our next point).

3. Allow the Roots Much-Needed Nutrients

All those little holes open up space for water and oxygen to bring much-needed nutrients to the roots of your lawn. This helps the roots grow deeply and produce a stronger, greener lawn. So why is this a problem in the spring? Well, for one, aeration helps everything to grow – even the weeds. Choosing to aerate in the fall, when weeds are less aggressive, will keep your landscaping from becoming a free-for-all. Your lawn is also more vulnerable to disease in the spring than in the fall as it is preparing for dormancy. 

Which leads us to our last point…

4. Prepare Grass for Winter Dormancy

During the fall, your lawn is preparing for winter, which means it’s enhancing its roots. Aerating will help your lawn increase root growth, which means a healthier, thicker, greener lawn come spring. During our wet northwest winters, aeration can also keep water from forming damaging puddles or run-off in lower areas of your landscaping.

These are all important reasons to aerate your lawn in fall instead of spring. However, we all know that aerating an entire lawn can be a lot of work. If you want lush and beautiful landscaping but feel overwhelmed to know where to start, our Professional Lawn Care team is here to help!

The Mountain View Landscapes team offers professional lawn care for all types of residential and commercial properties all over Gresham, Troutdale, Sandy, Damascus, Fairview, Welches, Estacada and Boring. Now is also the perfect time to ask us about our sprinkler winterization services. Through a range of customized services, our expert lawn maintenance services help keep your lawn in top condition all year long! 

Looking for commercial landscape maintenance? Check out our year-round Total Grounds Care package.

Whatever your needs, our team of professionals is here to help your landscaping dreams come to life! Contact us today to get started!