What Are Verticutting and Lawn Aeration?

As fall approaches (wheee, finally!) we’ve begun discussing renovating your lawn. You don’t need to watch the news to see how the continued drought and heat have really crisped our lawns so if you’ve never revived your lawn before this is the time to consider it.Aerating your lawn, taking small plugs of soil from the lawn to increase oxygen flow and prepare the soil for overseeding, is a great approach to rejuvenate your lawn before you put it to bed for the winter.Another technique is verticutting. The process is much the same as aerating but in this case vertical slices are cut into the soil in one direction to loosen thatch. The thatch is then raked up and the verticutter is run again in a different angle to create a criss-cross effect. Some verticutters will also seed on the second pass and this creates a nice even distribution of your seed.If the soil in your lawn is heavily compacted aeration may be the best choice break up the dirt and allow it to breathe. This also allows water to penetrate the hard clay of our area and make watering more beneficial.If your lawn is patchy, mostly dirt or very heavily thatched this may be the right time to verticut. The verticutting machine doesn’t make as deep a hole as an aerator but does a better job of removing that tangled mass of dead grass, sticks or other debris that gets trapped in the lawn. It’s also the best choice if you need to seed to cover bare patches or you have a thin grass cover overall.Fall is the best time to seed your lawn no matter how you do it. Weed growth is slowing down so there isn’t as much of a chance of growing the stuff you don’t want and allows the grass to germinate and establish before winter comes. Seeding in spring can sometimes create a battle as weeds are also germinating and love your fertilizer. And while you're at it, you might want to consider curbing and edging your landscape for a clean, well-shaped property.Both aerating and verticutting are fantastic ways to overcome the damage caused by the Summer, and if you’re just not sure which is best for you or you’re not looking forward to the labor call us at KC Landscape Curbing. We love bringing a lawn back to life.