Your lawn is a living, breathing organism.  And just like all the other living things you take care of — your family, your pets, your garden — it needs water and oxygen to stay healthy and happy.  Now that fall has arrived, it’s a great time to start thinking about how you can keep your lawn looking fantastic all season — whether it’s just for your own enjoyment or to impress the neighbors.  The often-overlooked key to a great-looking yard is aerating your lawn with a core aerator.

Lawn aeration with a core aerator consists of removing cores of turf so that air and water can reach each grass plant’s roots.  When water and oxygen can access your grass’s roots, those roots become healthier, stronger, and better able to resist drought.  Depending on your climate and grass type, the best times of year to aerate may vary.  For most areas, however, aerating twice a year is ideal: once in mid-spring, and once in the fall.

Aeration also decompacts compacted soil so that water and fertilizers can penetrate to grass’s roots.  Some aerators simply stab holes into the lawn, instead of removing cores.  This process actually makes soil compaction worse, even though the result looks similar.  Core aeration is really the way to go.  The DR Lawn Aerator removes 5/8″-diameter cores at 4″ intervals to give essential nutrients back to your lawn.  And its unique cam shaft makes it self-propelled, so aerating is as easy as a walk through the yard.

Even lawn-care pros believe in the power of core aeration.  Golf courses, often held as the gold standard of perfect lawn care, are commonly aerated for root health: