When do you guys aerate your lawns?

So, I was wondering today when to aerate my lawn and what tools to use. So, I decided to ask you for your opinion. What is your experience with lawn aeration tools? And when do you guys aerate your lawns?

 

Hi Allison,I just use an old fashioned garden fork,very time consuming though and I do it now as my lawn gets very waterlogged,I also do it in the spring too.There are tools for the job which I keep promising myself I get but haven't as yet

 

same here garden fork as Loli said it takes ages depending on the size of lawn , and then brush sand/top soil in to help with drainage down the fork holes.

Spruce

 

I made a small research on the weekend and I found this lawn aeration guide on Issuu, which also contains some info about the tools that can be used for the procedure. I think that those lawn aeration shoes sound pretty useful. When using them, you actually combine lawn aeration and a booty work out, plus you can manage some other lawn chore while walking around your lawn. Using a garden fork also sounds good, but I think that would be too much hard labour for me. :D I will probably get a pair of spiking shoes and use them. Thank you for the opinions.

 

We've got an aerator that looks like a lawnmower but isn't. We tend to aerate when it's looking a little 'clogged up'. Our lawn covers a soak away so we don't ideally need it waterlogged

 

I use a hollow tine aerator in the Autumn. I have a gubbins I can tow behind a garden tractor, but they are available to hire too. Much quicker and less effort than "by hand", especially for anyone with a lawn bigger than a pocket handkerchief!

 

Those shoes may sound like a good idea, but that are not quite as effective as they make out - the tines aren't very long for a start.

 

Gosh you are just sooooo lazy!

 

And ... it shows (you l'il perfectionist, you )

 

Agreed, with a garden fork you can get the full length of the fork in. Pretty tiring (with a cig hanging out your mouth anyway!).

 

Well, do I really need the full length of the fork? Isn't it enough to spike as deep as 6 inches? That guide I shared advises so, and I found one more resource that recommends the spiking to be between 2 and 6 inches deep. Using a garden fork sounds like a lot of hard work to manage.

 

Two inches may well be enough, but the holes need to be a decent size - the sort of size that a fork would make if wiggled a bit. Not sure what size holes the Shoes make, but I think the ones I have seen look like they just have regular nails through the soles, and if so I think the holes are too skinny - they will clog up almost immediately, whereas larger diameter holes will continue to work for longer, plus if you put down a top dressing of sand etc. that will find its way into the holes and thereby keep them "open" (well ... functioning as a drain)