There's more to a healthy green lawn than just what you see on top. Healthy soils are a critical factor in growing thick, turfgrass and creating a healthy soil sometimes requires more than just mowing and spreading fertilizer to keep your lawn in tip-top condition. Here are some recommendations to further enhance the color and vigor of your Great Outdoors!
I have a self-propelled aerator for estate sized lawns and athletic fields and a smaller aerator for suburban lawns. I've listed some benefits of aeration:
Allows better root development which keeps grass in good health. A healthy lawn withstands drought and disease attacks better
Exchanges soil and microbes which will reduce thatch and promote soil development
Reduces soil compaction
Thatch can greatly hinder grass because it develops above ground and restricts water, air and fertilizer movement into the soil. Turfgrass roots growing in lawns that have heavy thatch buildup are quite shallow compared to normal thatch layer roots. Shallow root growth increases the danger of drought damage occurring in your lawn. Moderate levels of thatch can usually be controlled with annual aeration treatments that help break down the thatch layer by microbes that digest the woody materials.
Extremely heavy thatch layers require a different approach. I use a flail dethatcher that cuts and pulls the woody mass away from the soil. This can create a drastic change to the appearance of your lawn, but this is only temporary. Once completed, I rake and bag up the exposed thatch and in short time, the lawn will be better than before and your lawn's thatch layer will be a more manageable problem that can then easily be maintained through regular aeration treatments.
The soil is the foundation of your turfgrass. Making sure your soil has the basic structure to support a healthy growth of turfgrass is critical.
When I start on a yard, I like to take a soil test. I feel that provides valuable measurable information on which to base to begin caring for the lawn. One of the things I look at first is the soil pH. If the soil happens to be acidic and needs lime to bring it back into balance, that's what I will recommend. If the pH levels are not in balance, the grass won't respond to fertilizer applications.
For soils composed mostly of heavy clay, I'll add gypsum, that over time, helps break down that heavy clay, creating a more friable soil that is better suited for developing a healthy lawn. You can increase organic matter to your soil, but using a mulching mower and / or leaving clippings on the lawn that will decay naturally over a period of time. Most grass clippings will decompose quickly and will not add to thatch buildup.
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