Can you aerate after fertilizing

The best fertilizer to use and how much will be dependent on your grass type and lawn size. Rather than playing a guessing game, hiring a professional is a simple solution.

Aerating and fertilizing or overseeding are almost always done together when hiring a professional. The best part? Compare different TruGreen Lawn Care plans , which provide essential nutrients, protection, organic soil amendments and lawn aeration for a healthy, green lawn!

Need Help? Call Blog Aeration Service. When should I aerate and fertilize my lawn? You can rent the machine by the hour from rental and home improvement stores — it works by moving across a lawn, somewhat like a vacuum cleaner moves across a carpet.

However, an aerator removes plugs of soil, about 3 inches deep and 3 inches apart, as it goes. For first-time aerators, this can be a startling sight — at least until you realize that the soil plugs dissolve into the lawn faster than you think after a little rain, Spring-Green says. In the meantime, all those open holes function like little chutes, sending air, water and nutrients straight down into a lawn and fortifying the root system.

This time frame gives the fertilizer the best chance to sink into the ground, resulting in a greener, lusher, softer and more resilient lawn. Spring and fall are considered the best times of year to aerate a lawn, with spring coming in as a slim favorite.

Aeration is a maintenance practice that many homeowners overlook, but one that should be incorporated into every lawn care regime for a thicker, healthier lawn. Aeration is the removal of a small core of soil or the punching of a thin hole into the soil. There are two kinds of tips, or "tines", that can be used on an aerator tool: hollow and solid. Of the two types, hollow tine aeration removes a solid plug of soil from the ground. This is most effective at improving airflow.

In contrast, solid tine aeration punches a hole in the soil, removing thatch in the process. While the solid tines are effective in removing thatch, the tine can compact the soil. For this reason, the hollow tine method is generally preferred. Thatch is a layer of living and dead stems, roots, and crowns that develop between the green vegetation and the soil surface. A thatch layer greater than one inch acts as a barrier to water, nutrients, and air reaching the soil and should be removed to ensure a healthy lawn.

Learn how to reinvigorate a lawn by removing the thatch. You should experiment to determine the best operating speed for your unit and lawn conditions.

This is usually 2 — 5 miles per hour. When turning around, lift the aerator using the 3-point hitch, turn and set up for your next pass, lower the unit and begin aerating again. Within 48 hours after you aerate you should over seed, fertilize, and water your lawn. The seed, fertilizer, and water will have the best chance to get down into the holes made by the aerator if applied soon after aeration. A Frontier Broadcast Spreader US CA is an excellent tool for spreading both seed and fertilizer, as well as salt or sand in the winter, making it a real 3-season tool.