Can I Mow Right After Aerating My Lawn? (2023)

This site is supported by our readers. We may earn a commission, at no cost to you, if you purchase through links.

A lawn that can breathe is mosting likely to produce a thick and also healthy and balanced lawn, and among the best ways to open the soil without disrupting the yard in area is to core aerate it. Like various other yearly yard treatment tasks, it calls for some preparation as well as synchronization with other upkeep.

As for timing your oxygenation and also cutting schedule, it’s usually best to cut prior to aerating the yard to be sure the oxygenation procedure goes as well as it can as well as record as numerous advantages of the job as feasible. When you trim initially, it provides you a chance to reveal the surface area and also clear it off for the aerators to reach the ground most easily.

Exactly How Does Aeration Work?

Aeration opens the soil to raised water infiltration and also airflow. Aerators are available in different versions: hand or fork aerators, press aerators, as well as tractor accessories that get drawing throughout the yard. Hand tool aerators are great for small spot-aeration, but they aren’t sensible for full-yard insurance coverage.

Most aerators are core or plug aerators, which penetrate the ground and lift 2 to 3 inch cores. Core oxygenation is a popular technique considering that it eliminates and displaces the dirt, unlike spike aerators that don’t open up the ground like coring does. Spikes, or points, puncture the backyard, however don’t produce divots. Coring leaves behind the core pellets, which can be left in place or utilized for various other lawn work.

Should I Mow Before Or After Aeration?

It’s typically advised to cut prior to aeration, especially if you’re overspending. That stated, it won’t harm the lawn if you mow after aerating if you aren’t laying down grass seed. Cutting initial enables you to reveal the dirt prior to aerating The surface degree of the ground will be clear as well as less complicated to get to with the aerator. Cutting initially will additionally allow you to rake up thatch prior to aerating, opening up even more of the surface area.

Some choose to freshen up prior to trimming, in which instance the cores will certainly be left behind on the mowed turf. In this instance, you ought to wait a day or more prior to mowing to allow the cores completely dry as well as either rake them up prior to cutting or leave them in position to be broken up and also redistributed across the lawn.

This can dull your lawn mower blades, yet it will not harm the lawn to cut after aerating If the cores are too hard, do not trim them over; just rake them up or leave them on the grass.

Mowing After Aeration And Overseeding

When you aerate is a fantastic time to overseed the grass given that it makes the soil porous. When you aerate prior to mowing, the divots may obtain pressed as well as loaded with soil as well as yard trimmings as you mow the grass. This doesn’t create as positive an overseeding environment given that the divots that the seeds might or else securely resolve right into might be fallen down, covered, or loaded.

For how long Should You Wait To Mow After Aerating?

If you’re overseeding the lawn, mow first, aerate, then overseed, and use mulch as well as fertilizers. When aerating and overseeding, it’s suggested to cut the yard a number of notches reduced than usual to reveal the surface area of the ground. Because you desire the seeds to sprout prior to trimming once again, the extra size in cut will certainly extend the regrowth duration and delayed your next cut an added week or two.

In general, waiting about 3 weeks after aerating as well as overseeding will give the seeds time to develop, though the time will differ based upon germination price per turf kind. If you’re not overspending, you can keep to your routine mowing timetable.

Why You Should Water Before And After Aerating

Gently water the yard the day prior to you prepare to core aerate. The ground will be denser, more quickly permeated by the aerator, as well as the cores will certainly raise out quickly. Dry soil could not order as rapidly, as well as it can fall apart while being took out.

After aeration, the ground will certainly dry out faster considering that the soil is a lot more revealed to the outdoors. The law ought to be watered a little bit greater than usual for a couple of weeks up until the cores clear up as well as the lawn roots turn into the recently opened up areas. If you’re overspending after aerating, you’ll have to provide that additional amount of water to the lawn anyhow.

Topdressing aerated dirt

For comparable reasons that aeration helps with watering, it allows plant foods to permeate the surface area, adding to the topsoil’s nutrient web content. Topdressing is applying surface-level organic solids that develop dirt’s framework and quantity.

Applying materials like mulch, plant foods, compost, peat, or biochar aids the turf expand in thick origin systems and blade insurance coverage. If your yard has a water retention trouble, adding sand when the soil is revealed by core aeration can help with drainage and maintain the topsoil moist, not wet.

When you apply organic materials that decay, the groundcover nurtures the lawn and seeds from germination to grow by supplying a moist, helpful, growing setting. This kind of groundcover will contribute to preserving a well-aerated topsoil as well as prevent quick compaction from sprinkling or rainfall, as the solids aid with good drainage and also oxygen retention.

How Often Should The Lawn Be Aerated?

Aeration is only needed yearly, as well as over several years, this timetable will have your lawn in a continually well-aerated problem. If you have extremely portable soil, like clay soil, you might require to freshen twice a year, spread out 6 months apart. Remember, oxygenation benefits the grass, but it does interfere with the origins just enough to not damage them.

When Is The Best Time Of Year To Aerate?

The best time of the year to aerate is throughout the expanding seasons when the grass will certainly gain from oxygen and also wetness gain access to. Roots will have the ability to recover swiftly from the light disruption of aeration as well as fill in the vacant rooms with brand-new development. On the various other hand, aerating also near, or during, inactivity can harm lawn considering that the origins can not divert energy to repair.

The 3 main development periods of the year are:

• Early as well as mid-spring — You can start aerating the lawn after the last frost and also once the ground has actually entirely thawed during the cool-weather yards’ spring expanding period between April and May.
• Late spring and also very early summer season — When the temperature levels get to 75 degrees and above in June and July, cozy season grasses will certainly sprout and also expand, going inactive at the end of the summer season.
• Late summer season as well as very early fall — Aerating the yard throughout the cool-weather lawns’ autumn development can be done up to two months before the very first frost, normally in September. Take treatment not to freshen also near winter dormancy.

Should I Leave The Soil Cores Or Remove Them?

Some home owners like to accumulate and also store their cores for compost, gardening objectives, or filling up holes in the lawn as they appear throughout the year. The choice to leave the cores in position or remove them depends on the instance, however generally, it’s recommended to leave the cores in the lawn unless you’ll be replacing the shed dirt. They’ll break down and also reincorporate right into the ground after some rain or a couple of waterings.

If you do leave the cores around the backyard yet wish to cut after aerating, be sure to let them dry so they’ll separate more conveniently. This can plane your lawn mower blades, so check on the sharpness of your blades afterward if you do select to mow over the cores.