Quick aeration question

[BigEd]

I will start my own lawn care company this year and was wondering when you do aeration do you remove the plugs from the lawn surface afterwards,or leave them there to break down.The company I worked for did not aerate so I'am new to this part of the business.I did a few searches and learned alot but this never came up.

Thanks, Ed

[tazman]

Leave them there. They will break down eventually and go back in to the soil. It is more beneficial for the lawn. Plus, you would be there all day trying to pick them up. Your mower will also get them over time.

[Turfclippings]

Goto Textron.com and see if you can get a aerification kit sent to you. Or call them. i had a kit sent last year and it very informative and has info to give to customers as well to explain the process.

[Premo Services]

Turfclippings, I went to textron.com and could not find info about aeration,weher do you find it?

[beck]

turfco.com

is another site. I received a "fall money maker kit" last year which had brochures in it on aerating and overseeding. At the time it was free. They also sell the brochures for $5 for 50 of them.

[BigEd]

Thanks for the info guys.I will check out Turfco and Textron.What is the average rate for aeration,double or triple the price of a cut??

[zipp669]

where i am at is $5/1000..min is $35 up to 7000 sqft
I have a 5' turfco 3 pt and charge $3.50/1000 on big job.
they say it varies from $2 to $4/1000 higher in omaha than Des Moines. each region will be different
good luck

[Skookum]

I wonder how many years it would take, of two annual aerations, where you picked up the cores each time, to end up removing 3" of topsoil to where you would then be able to charge for top dressing to rebuild that back up to the sidewalks and curbs again?

[Garry]

The ONLY place you even think about removing the cores is on a golf course green. Even then, you topdress enough to return it to a playable condition. Residential lawns Should be aerated every year. The cores break down and provide a kind of topdressing. Usually within a couple of weeks of an aeration, breakdown has occurred, and you can't even tell there's been a evasive procedure.

[Trimline]

Hope you guys don't mind if I jump in here with a quick question. How long do you wait to mow after aerating? It seems the plugs would dull blades pretty fast.

[dtm]

we do our aeration in the fall (late sept or oct)and also offer over seeding to go along with it. We charge double what a cut would would cost normaly but larger accounts may vary. The ground condtion should be moist. It is best to do aeration when it is not to dry but also you would not want it to be to wet because it will make a muddy mess not to mention your boots will feel like a thousand pounds. you can mow soon after it if is not to wet. About the blade issue we sharpen every other day anyway so this is not a big problem.

[kutnkru]

Not to try and confuse you, but we are opposite of DTM. We provide our clients with Core Aerations in the spring so that nutrients will reach and be absorbed by the root zone more effectively. We offer Dethatching and Over-Seeding from Mid-Septemebr thru Mid-October.

In an ideal world these cores would be removed and sand put in the holes to stop the compaction.

As for removing them, this is not necessary; but it is actually more effective and beneficial to the turf if you were to run a power rake(dethatcher with solid reel, not flail reel) over the lawn afterwards to breakdown these clumps of soil. This would in fact give you the topdressing effect in addition to relieving compaction.

Hope this helps.
Kris

[Currier]

I always try to wait until the plugs have dried out before I mow. It makes for a couple of seriously dusty mowings but I have found that if I mow right after plugging the mower get all bound up with mud and it is a living nighmare!
It probably does dull the blades but we change them every day and sharpen them to keep them fresh, so it really isn't a big deal.

Watch out. I always love to get tons of plugs(and deep). Makes me feel I've done a GREAT job aerating. Then when you go to mow you kind of pay the price for doing such great work:)Do good quality work. Just don't go too nuts pullin all that dirt up!

[Mid Rivers]

It seems most aerate in the fall, why? Will it hurt to aerate in the spring? I would think if you aerate in the spring you would be making it easy for fertilizer to get to the roots.

[kutnkru]

We offer this service during both the spring and the fall. I have our clients set up so that we are power raking in the spring and aerating in the fall.

YES you are correct that this service will be more beneficial to fert programs being absorbed into the root zone in the spring-time.

If you render this service to your clients in the spring it will not hurt the turf, or be detrimental to your nutrient/disease control program.

I hope this helps.
Kris

[larrv45390]

When to aerate
When you should aerate typically depends on the type of soil and grass you have. If you have a clay soil, you should generally aerate twice a year. If you have sandy soil, you should typically aerate once a year. If you have warm season grasses, late-spring to early summer is in most cases is the best time to aerate. If you have cool season grasses, late summer or early fall is the best time. If you are planning on fertilizing or reseeding your lawn in the early spring or fall, it is best to aerate just prior to doing so. This will allow the fertilizer, seed, and other nutrients to penetrate your lawn and soil, thereby producing better results. Aerate during times of drought and high heat may harm your lawn, it allows moisture to escape the soil more rapidly and removes small layers of Thatch that can be beneficial to your lawn. This layer of thatch can help to insulate your soil from sunlight and excessive evaporation and hold moisture. Try to control your weeds prior to aerating your lawn, during times of weed problems aeration may spread the problem grater.

Remove the plugs or leave them?
There is no need to remove the plugs from your lawn after aerating that is if you do not live on a putting green. The plugs brake down in two or three weeks and are returned to the soil. If you remove the plugs from your lawn you may be rubbing it of the very things it needs to live. However if you are planning to top dress your lawn with a better soil or soil closely matching yours it is ok to remove them

[jeffyr]

If the soil is disturbed too much in the spring you will have more crabgrass growth. For this reason I aerate in the fall since the crabgrass and weeds are not competing with the turf. Also, if you are seeding in the spring (I assume you are if you are aerating) then you can only use sidduron as a pre-emergent or your seed will not grow. You can spot seed with other pre-emergents as long as you rake the area weel to break the barrier formed---but this will open that area to crabgrass infestation as well.

[pax3]

Way to much of a pain to remove plugs from aeration. I used to just let them naturally break down which is fine, but lately i've been using a small section of chain link fence to break cores down. I just hook it up to the back of my zero-turn and drag it around the yard. Very fast and effective.

[LScom Addict]

When we core aearte for customers we leave the plugs of removed soils there to breakdown as a topdressing.