Good drainage is one of the keys to having a healthy lawn, but all too often our lawns are growing on heavy clay soil that packs down easily just with normal lawn use making drainage a real problem.

One way to help alleviate this problem is through regular aeration. This is easily done with a core aerator [1], available for rental from your local nursery or lawn and landscape company. However, be sure to rent one that removes plugs of soil [2] when you run it across your lawn rather than one that just pokes holes in the lawn.

Fall is an excellent time to do this - the lawn is still actively growing and the timing for the recommended fall fertilization can be an added bonus. The area to be treated should be moist but not soggy so that the machine can easily penetrate the soil.

Run the core aerator over the lawn in several directions so that the holes are only a few inches apart. Leave the plugs lie on top of the lawn. In just a few weeks these will break apart and will actually act as a top dressing on the lawn, helping to breakdown the accumulated thatch.

In the meantime the holes serve to allow air and water to penetrate more deeply into the soil. More importantly, by fertilizing right after aeration, these holes provide an easy way to get nutrients directly to the lawn’s root zone [3].