Fall Lawn Maintenance

You know you’re a grown up when… you discuss fall lawn maintenance with others.

Yes, it’s true. I’m talking about getting our lawn prepared for winter.

Last weekend we had our lawn aerated. What’s that, you ask? Lawn aeration helps reduce soil compaction and control lawn thatch (“a layer of dead organic tissue that deprives the lawn of much-needed oxygen”). We went the core/plug aeration route, as you can see below.

It looks like a giant pack of dogs blew up our yard. We’re hoping this aids in keeping trick or treaters off the lawn tonight.

You can rent a lawn aerator from home improvement stores. This is a good option if you have neighbors who want to aerate their lawns too. That way you and your neighbors can split the rental fee. We ended up finding a guy off Craigslist who would aerate our lawn for $55. Keep in mind our yard is less than a quarter of an acre, and you pay by the size of your yard.

I’ve read mixed information on when to aerate your lawn. Some say spring, some say fall. We went with fall because that’s when our next door neighbor did it and his lawn looked so much better the following spring. Either way, you’re supposed to aerate in cooler months (March, April, October).

After the lawn was aerated Brad fertilized and seeded it.

In other lawn and garden news, we put our vegetable garden to bed. We pulled out all of the plants. Brad fertilized and then tilled the soil.

And last week we planted a 200 pound October Glory Maple. More on that adventure next week– like the fun we had transporting that sucker 8 miles back to our house. Good news is that we’re still happily married.

Have you had your lawn aerated before? Think it made a difference?
Who’s excited to read about our adventures in tree planting?