Scarifying and Aerating Lawns

The best spring lawns begin in autumn! Now is the time to scarify and aerate your lawn to ensure that it remains strong and healthy throughout the winter months, especially before our northern temperatures drop in October. Early lawn aeration and scarification provide your grass with a necessary boost, allowing air, water, and essential nutrients to penetrate the root zone—the three vital components for a thriving lawn.

What does Scarifying mean?

Scarifying is when a spring-tine rake is used on the lawn, pulling through the grass sward vigorously.

Scarifying reduces the build-up of thatch (dead grass, moss, etc.). This thatch layer stifles grass and impedes drainage. The easy option is to use a machine for the job, but vigorous raking provides a good workout.

What does Aerating mean?

Aerating your lawn is when holes are made in the soil to allow air, water and nutrients into the grass at the root. Encouraging a deeper root and stronger lawn.

Aerating relieves compaction and encourages good drainage, reducing the growth of moss, lichens, algae and slime moulds, which become prominent in the cool, humid conditions encountered here in early autumn. Aerate using a hollow-tine corer or a garden fork, making holes 10cm deep, spaced 10-15cm apart. Brush a top dressing of sandy loam into the holes. This helps to protect exposed roots from penetrating frosts, which can start as early as next month.

Follow up with an application of autumn lawn fertiliser.

Top Tips	Scalping the grass too short when mowing can stunt a lawn's growth, whereas letting it grow too long causes thatch to build up and strangle the grass. Healthy grass must be kept at approximately one inch.
	Over-acidic soil can favour moss on most lawns. Alkaline-rich products, such as garden lime can be applied when grass is thin, sparse and sprouting from soil with a ph. below 5.5
	Puncturing especially mossy patches with a lawn aerator can relieve compaction in the soil. Making it harder for moss to re-establish.