I need to aerate the backyard. Everything I see on when to aerate says late spring early summer when the grass is at peak growth. With the warm winter, it never really went completely dormant and started greening up very early. Would it be ok to aerate in a couple of weeks (first chance I'll get), or should I wait until May? I'm thinking sooner might be a little better because it'll help with water uptake, and God knows rain and water are a little hard to come by right now in central Texas.

I'm also planning on top dressing with compost. Should I just rake the plugs when top dressing or hit them with the lawnmower before hand?

"Vertical core aeration is your best way of breaking through the thatch, and April is your best time to do so."

https://neilsperry.com/2021/03/lawn-care-questions-of-spring-2/

I aerated a week ago in the DFW area. I think now is a great time to do it.

I rake up the plugs but I use a reel mower and I don't want to damage the blade.

There's a reason golf courses aerate June/july. Peak growing season. I'd top dress with masonry sand as well

I'll add that aerating in the summer gives you a nice little break from mowing

ABATTBQ11 said:

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I need to aerate the backyard. Everything I see on when to aerate says late spring early summer when the grass is at peak growth. With the warm winter, it never really went completely dormant and started greening up very early. Would it be ok to aerate in a couple of weeks (first chance I'll get), or should I wait until May? I'm thinking sooner might be a little better because it'll help with water uptake, and God knows rain and water are a little hard to come by right now in central Texas.

I'm also planning on top dressing with compost. Should I just rake the plugs when top dressing or hit them with the lawnmower before hand?

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What makes you think you need to aerate?

TMfrisco said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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I need to aerate the backyard. Everything I see on when to aerate says late spring early summer when the grass is at peak growth. With the warm winter, it never really went completely dormant and started greening up very early. Would it be ok to aerate in a couple of weeks (first chance I'll get), or should I wait until May? I'm thinking sooner might be a little better because it'll help with water uptake, and God knows rain and water are a little hard to come by right now in central Texas.

I'm also planning on top dressing with compost. Should I just rake the plugs when top dressing or hit them with the lawnmower before hand?

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What makes you think you need to aerate?

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I can tell areas are compacted where the kids play and where there's naturally high traffic. I also had to back my truck in to get mulch around our playground a few times. In those areas, the grass dries out faster than everywhere else, and you can tell they don't take up water as well. Some areas are also a little patchy. We had sod put in a year and half ago, and I'm pretty sure they didn't till enough before laying. I leveled the playground area and moved a bunch of dirt to fill in a couple of big low spots before they laid it down, and everywhere I moved dirt to is doing the best, presumably because it was put on top of loose fill instead of compacted ground.

I do both fall and spring. As far as I can tell, timing seems somewhat irrelevant, but our lawn is fescue and doesn't build up a lot of thatch. I don't clean any of the plugs up, either. As you mentioned, the biggest benefit I see is improved water absorption in our clay soils. Supposedly the fall treatment helps with root development. I'm sure the grass type and soil type matters to a degree.

Anyone used the manual aerator tool?

Dill-Ag13 said:

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Anyone used the manual aerator tool?

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I have one that you step on and it pulls two cores out. It works well enough, but is really only good for small areas.

bam02 said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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El_duderino said:

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There's a reason golf courses aerate June/july. Peak growing season. I'd top dress with masonry sand as well

I'll add that aerating in the summer gives you a nice little break from mowing

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But mowing has become my only source of peace during the summer...

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You are welcome to have an hour and a half of peace at my house every week.

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Laugh/cry

ABATTBQ11 said:

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TMfrisco said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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I need to aerate the backyard. Everything I see on when to aerate says late spring early summer when the grass is at peak growth. With the warm winter, it never really went completely dormant and started greening up very early. Would it be ok to aerate in a couple of weeks (first chance I'll get), or should I wait until May? I'm thinking sooner might be a little better because it'll help with water uptake, and God knows rain and water are a little hard to come by right now in central Texas.

I'm also planning on top dressing with compost. Should I just rake the plugs when top dressing or hit them with the lawnmower before hand?

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What makes you think you need to aerate?

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I can tell areas are compacted where the kids play and where there's naturally high traffic. I also had to back my truck in to get mulch around our playground a few times. In those areas, the grass dries out faster than everywhere else, and you can tell they don't take up water as well. Some areas are also a little patchy. We had sod put in a year and half ago, and I'm pretty sure they didn't till enough before laying. I leveled the playground area and moved a bunch of dirt to fill in a couple of big low spots before they laid it down, and everywhere I moved dirt to is doing the best, presumably because it was put on top of loose fill instead of compacted ground.

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I asked because many people recommend aerating when it really isn't needed. Compaction from heavy traffic is almost the only reason I could see a homeowner needing it - or, an old yard built on crappy soil.

Looks like you got the heavy traffic covered. I would wait until your area gets to the magic number of 150 degrees consistently - daytime highs and nighttime lows adding up to 150 - if you want it to heal quickly and grow through the topdressing. A little early won't hurt at all and you are correct about it helping with water.

Your idea of mowing to break up the plugs before topdressing is a good one.

If you have access to a 50/50 compost/sand or compost/topsoil blend, you'll probably get a little more new material in the holes and it will help level a little better.

TMfrisco said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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TMfrisco said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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I need to aerate the backyard. Everything I see on when to aerate says late spring early summer when the grass is at peak growth. With the warm winter, it never really went completely dormant and started greening up very early. Would it be ok to aerate in a couple of weeks (first chance I'll get), or should I wait until May? I'm thinking sooner might be a little better because it'll help with water uptake, and God knows rain and water are a little hard to come by right now in central Texas.

I'm also planning on top dressing with compost. Should I just rake the plugs when top dressing or hit them with the lawnmower before hand?

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What makes you think you need to aerate?

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I can tell areas are compacted where the kids play and where there's naturally high traffic. I also had to back my truck in to get mulch around our playground a few times. In those areas, the grass dries out faster than everywhere else, and you can tell they don't take up water as well. Some areas are also a little patchy. We had sod put in a year and half ago, and I'm pretty sure they didn't till enough before laying. I leveled the playground area and moved a bunch of dirt to fill in a couple of big low spots before they laid it down, and everywhere I moved dirt to is doing the best, presumably because it was put on top of loose fill instead of compacted ground.

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I asked because many people recommend aerating when it really isn't needed. Compaction from heavy traffic is almost the only reason I could see a homeowner needing it - or, an old yard built on crappy soil.

Looks like you got the heavy traffic covered. I would wait until your area gets to the magic number of 150 degrees consistently - daytime highs and nighttime lows adding up to 150 - if you want it to heal quickly and grow through the topdressing. A little early won't hurt at all and you are correct about it helping with water.

Your idea of mowing to break up the plugs before topdressing is a good one.

If you have access to a 50/50 compost/sand or compost/topsoil blend, you'll probably get a little more new material in the holes and it will help level a little better.

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THANKS! This is exactly the info I'm looking for. I think we'll be close to that in a couple of weeks when I can finally do it. We're already seeing days in the mid 80's with lows in the mid 60's.

Local landscape supply has a topsoil, compost, sand blend that they recommend for leveling that I intend to use. I'm planning on enough for 1/4" of coverage. Is that enough?

Thinking of doing ours as well. What type of aerator do yall use? Is it worth it to rent one from HD? Or are there some decent ones out there that are reasonably priced? Yard is about 4000 sqft.

I have rented from HD. It's about $100 for 4 hours. You can coordinate with a few neighbors and rent it for 24 hours and make it much cheaper per person. I have no idea what they cost but they have to run several thousand dollars and I just don't think it'd be worth it to own something like that for how infrequently it would get used. You'd have to be pretty diligent about maintenance.

Renting one from HD this weekend. $111 for the day and will be aerating 4 yards.

I have compaction in high traffic areas as well. It's also a newer built home (2021) and the soil movement and compaction from the build does a number on north Texas yard prep.

I also put down 10 yards of soil compost last year and my lawn looked the best it ever had.

I'll be aerating this weekend, and laying some composted soil and sod in a few more once we're passed Easter.

ABATTBQ11 said:

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TMfrisco said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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TMfrisco said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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I need to aerate the backyard. Everything I see on when to aerate says late spring early summer when the grass is at peak growth. With the warm winter, it never really went completely dormant and started greening up very early. Would it be ok to aerate in a couple of weeks (first chance I'll get), or should I wait until May? I'm thinking sooner might be a little better because it'll help with water uptake, and God knows rain and water are a little hard to come by right now in central Texas.

I'm also planning on top dressing with compost. Should I just rake the plugs when top dressing or hit them with the lawnmower before hand?

---

What makes you think you need to aerate?

---

I can tell areas are compacted where the kids play and where there's naturally high traffic. I also had to back my truck in to get mulch around our playground a few times. In those areas, the grass dries out faster than everywhere else, and you can tell they don't take up water as well. Some areas are also a little patchy. We had sod put in a year and half ago, and I'm pretty sure they didn't till enough before laying. I leveled the playground area and moved a bunch of dirt to fill in a couple of big low spots before they laid it down, and everywhere I moved dirt to is doing the best, presumably because it was put on top of loose fill instead of compacted ground.

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I asked because many people recommend aerating when it really isn't needed. Compaction from heavy traffic is almost the only reason I could see a homeowner needing it - or, an old yard built on crappy soil.

Looks like you got the heavy traffic covered. I would wait until your area gets to the magic number of 150 degrees consistently - daytime highs and nighttime lows adding up to 150 - if you want it to heal quickly and grow through the topdressing. A little early won't hurt at all and you are correct about it helping with water.

Your idea of mowing to break up the plugs before topdressing is a good one.

If you have access to a 50/50 compost/sand or compost/topsoil blend, you'll probably get a little more new material in the holes and it will help level a little better.

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THANKS! This is exactly the info I'm looking for. I think we'll be close to that in a couple of weeks when I can finally do it. We're already seeing days in the mid 80's with lows in the mid 60's.

Local landscape supply has a topsoil, compost, sand blend that they recommend for leveling that I intend to use. I'm planning on enough for 1/4" of coverage. Is that enough?

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If you're going to the trouble of topdressing, I'd shoot for at least 1/2". I'd probably go even heavier - about 1/2 of your existing grass covered. The material will fill holes and then "compress" after it gets water on it. Put fertilizer down before you topdress. Either 2 apps - 1 organic + 1 chemical(to get the grass going) or a combo that is at least 50% organic.

Dill-Ag13 said:

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Anyone used the manual aerator tool?

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Don't do it. I've used one and you have to clean the cores out every 3 or 4 steps. Also leaves a lot larger holes than the machine.

Planning on it this weekend. Couldn't get to it last weekend because of a Taekwondo tournament.

RogerFurlong said:

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Dill-Ag13 said:

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Anyone used the manual aerator tool?

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Don't do it. I've used one and you have to clean the cores out every 3 or 4 steps. Also leaves a lot larger holes than the machine.

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I bought this before I saw your comment and have used it so far with decent success. I have a very small yard (~3000sqft)

Dill-Ag13 said:

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RogerFurlong said:

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Dill-Ag13 said:

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Anyone used the manual aerator tool?

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Don't do it. I've used one and you have to clean the cores out every 3 or 4 steps. Also leaves a lot larger holes than the machine.

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I bought this before I saw your comment and have used it so far with decent success. I have a very small yard (~3000sqft)

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I've got one that I use for small areas. It didn't work well at all at first. Not sure if it was painted inside and that was causing it to stick or what. Now it works so much better than it did initially. It will occasionally get clogged if I hit a heavy clay area that's a little wet.

The aerator machines get clogged too. There's just so many tines you don't notice each one and they're unclogging themselves eventually unless you get a rock stuck in there.

What should I top dress with after aerating? St Aug with heavy clay soil.

What are you looking to accomplish with top dressing?

Revitalize and grow grass in heavily compacted areas

Dill-Ag13 said:

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What should I top dress with after aerating? St Aug with heavy clay soil.

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Try to find a compost/sand or compost/topsoil mix.

TMfrisco has good insight so listen to him there. Gypsum would be good to put down as well.

ABATTBQ11 said:

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How long should I keep my kids out of the back? A week or so?

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Why are you keeping kids out of the yard? Maybe I missed it, but all I see is aerate/top dress. I've never worried about compaction from kids at that point.

There are parts where the grass is thin, and I'm mostly concerned with the running and traffic kicking all of the top dressing out of the low spots.

I used a sand/topsoil/manure mix and spread with a leveling rake pretty well before watering in. I thought it was a little thick in places, but I wasn't sure because this is the first time I've ever done this. It seems a little caked now. Is this normal? Should I take a garden take and break it up to get gas blades up?

I think it'll be fine but yeah I'd probably take a light rake to it after a few days