All lawns look tired after several years of Florida's brutal summer heat under minimal lawn care. By minimal, I mean doing nothing more than the basics - mowing, fertilizing, pest control, and irrigating.
The problem lies below the surface. Minimal care slowly depletes the soil's nutrients and their fertility. Healthy soil is airy, rich with nutrients, and full of microbial activity. Good soil combines sand, silt, clay, organic matter and a host of beneficial insects to form a growing medium that supports vigorous plant roots. Rich soil holds nutrients and water longer, and makes them available to plants. It also allows excess water to drain off. Healthy soil also holds vital air pockets, providing essential oxygen to roots. It is home to millions of microbes, insect larvae, earth worms and other organisms that break down organic matter, aerate, and improve soil structure.
All of these benefits of healthy soil are started by annual aeration of your lawn in the spring. Creating the holes in the soil is the first step in getting a nutrient-rich soil that increases your lawn's health expenentially. The punctured holes from the aeration service allow your lawn's roots to breathe, thatch (grass clippings and other organic material) to enter the soil and breakdown, and increase the ability of spring's fertilizer to go straight int your soil.
Beyond basic care, there's another reason our soil desperately needs Gainesville Lawn Aeration every spring . As we tramp over lawns to mow, walk, and play and our pets do the same - the soil gets more compacted. This eliminates air pockets and the oxygen grass roots need. Compaction also eliminates water pockets, reducing the soil’s water retention which forces you to use your sprinklersystem more often. The results are predictable: grass browning, thinning, or being choked out by weeds, and lawns littered with bare spots.
A little work each spring can repair the lawn. First, start with the spring aeration. Second, slow down the natural process of soil compaction by avoiding walking on the grass in the same area or pattern and mowing with the same pattern. Lastly, add milorganiite and lime to your lawn health program to increase the soil's fertility and nutrients. This will help you restore your lawn this spring to the Gainesville yard you've dreamed of.
If we can be help in providing Gainesville yard aeration service or soil ammendments, contact our office by call or text at 352-378-5296 or fill out the contact form above for a free lawn analysis.