Lawn Aerating & Overseeding: Rejuvenate Your South-Central PA Lawn

What Is Lawn Aeration?

You can tell when your soil is compacted. It’s hard to walk on, plantains and other weeds take over the yard, and you may also have thinning turf.

Foot traffic, dry conditions, and hot summer sun cause lawn compaction. In South-Central PA, we have clay soil that easily compacts, where water has difficulty penetrating the soil, leading to poor drainage areas on your property.

When our technicians use a mechanical aerator to pull small plugs of soil out of the ground, it’s called lawn aeration. This core aeration refers to the soil cores being removed from your lawn.

Our aeration timing starts in August and goes through mid-October.

What are lawn aeration benefits? 

1. It allows more water, oxygen, and nutrients to penetrate the soil
2. Turfgrass roots can reach deeper into the soil for stored moisture and nutrients
3. It reduces thatch that harbors diseases and pests
4. It increases microbial activity
5. We can apply topdressing and other amendments that will improve soil health and turfgrass development
6. Aerating provides lawn rejuvenation, where your turf grows thick and healthy
7. Lawn aeration prepares the soil for overseeding.

Learn more: Revitalize Your Lawn with Fall Mechanical Aeration and Overseeding

At Tomlinson Bomberger, we offer two types of aeration. The first one is mechanical, as explained above. The second type of aeration is called granular aeration.

Granular aeration doesn’t use a core aerator or any other machine to remove cores from the soil. Instead, it’s a grain-based product designed to add more carbon to the soil.

Granular aeration’s benefits include

1. It relieves lawn compaction
2. The soil absorbs more nutrients and water while receiving more oxygen 
3. It increases water retention
4. It encourages turfgrass root growth
5. It reaches more soil unavailable to mechanical aeration
6. You won’t have messy plugs lying in your yard
7. Your irrigation system, underground dog fences, and gates won’t be damaged.

Understanding Seeding Techniques

Did you know that Pennsylvania lawns consist of cool season turfgrasses? These turf species grow best in the early spring and fall when temperatures return to the 70s. 

At Tomlinson Bomberger, we offer two seeding techniques: slice-seeding or overseeding for your South-Central Pennsylvania lawn. 

We use a slice seeder to cut into the soil right after aeration and deposit the seed into the ground. With a slice seeder, you get faster germination and deeper root development because of the precise soil-to-seed contact.

When we overseed your lawn without a slice-seeder, we use a mechanical overseeder to drop turfgrass seed in your lawn, which is done a few weeks after aeration.

Here are overseeding benefits:

1. Grass seed goes deep in the soil, allowing turfgrass roots to develop a robust root system over the winter
2. New turfgrass fills in thin areas
3. Healthier and thicker turfgrass will grow the following spring.

You can still overseed your lawn whether you choose granular or mechanical aeration.

Learn more: To Overseed or Start Over with Your Ugly Lawn?

Pairing Aerating and Overseeding for Lawn Rejuvenation

Why do aeration and overseeding happen within weeks of each other? To provide you with a lawn renovation project that delivers results.

Think of it this way: Core aeration rejuvenates and sets the stage for soil to receive turfgrass seed. Our technicians will do slice-seeding or overseeding after aeration, whether granular or mechanical.

If you choose traditional core aeration and overseeding for a healthy lawn, we’ll aerate your turfgrass first and then return in a few weeks for overseeding.

Starting in the fall and continuing to the following spring, the soil will be relieved from lawn compaction, and you’ll have a dense, thick turf.

Taking Care of Your Lawn After Aerating and Overseeding 

For aerating and overseeding services to succeed, you must ensure your lawn gets all the love it needs to encourage turfgrass growth. For example, you’ll need to water your newly seeded turfgrass for seeds to germinate.

Here is a breakdown of watering must-dos after overseeding for a healthy lawn:

1. Before seedlings germinate:

Since the first few weeks after overseeding are crucial for plant development, we recommend watering your new lawn for 15-25 minutes, two to three times daily, to keep the top ½” to 1” of soil moist.

You don’t want to overwater your newly seeded lawn. Instead, follow our recommendations for watering.

You can use soaker hoses with a timer or set your automatic water sprinkler to turn on for the above time.

What should you do if you forget to water your lawn? The growing process will be interrupted, and some turfgrass seeds will lose their viability, which means you’ll see less seed germination.

2. After seedlings germinate:

Congratulations on successfully helping your new turfgrass germinate. Next, you need to help these seedlings mature into a new lawn. 

The turfgrass must develop a deep root system to reach extra water storage and nutrients over the winter.

At this stage, you must keep the soil moist, not water-logged. You create a moisture-rich environment that encourages seedling roots to grow deeper into the soil. 

Now, set your soaker hose or irrigation system’s timer to turn on for 45-60 minutes two to three times weekly.

Transform Your Lawn Today! Contact Tomlinson Bomberger for Expert Lawn Aeration & Overseeding

Early fall is the perfect time for lawn rejuvenation. Make your appointment today by calling us at (717) 399-1991 or filling out our contact form to schedule your aerating and overseeding services.

Sources:

Extension.PSU.edu, Managing Thatch in Lawns.

TurfMagazine.com, Comparing Aeration and Overseeding Techniques.