EARLY AERATION

By Brian Webster

When soil becomes compacted (even a little bit), grass roots struggle to absorb oxygen and nutrients. This reduces the growth, thickness, and the overall health of the lawn.

Lawns that aren’t getting their basic needs struggle to deal with stress caused by heat and drought conditions, as well as weeds and other diseases. This can cause your lawn to lose its luster, thin out, and eventually die.

So, what does that mean for us, here in Southern Utah, where water is such a precious resource? How do you be mindful of your water use while still enjoying a beautiful yard? Glad you asked! While still being water conscious, we’re bold enough to claim your lawn can still stay resilient, healthy, and envyof-the-neighborhood gorgeous!

First, aerating your lawn in early spring, will help your lawn flourish through the active growing season and prepare it to weather the extreme summer. Specifically, benefits of aeration include:

• Improved effectiveness of fertilizers and soil treatments.

• Increased airflow and water movement to the roots.

• De-compacted soil promotes more, and deeper, root growth.

Aeration un-does the compaction that comes from evaporation and foot traffic. Did you know that? It seems like common knowledge that activity on the lawn will compact the soil. But most compaction comes from moisture evaporating out of the turf and soil. Each time it rains, or your sprinklers run, and the sun dries out the grass, the soil contracts and gets a little bit tighter. So, aeration for us in the southwest desert is very needed for the health of the grass.

We’ve addressed how spring aeration helps. And all the same benefits apply for a fall aeration when the grass is trying to recover from the hot and dry summer. That’s the recommendation for aerating your grass: 2 times per year, spring and fall.

Along with the aeration, add in a robust, year-round, fertilization program, and you’re on your way to a beautiful lawn. Fertilizations should include nutrients specifically for the grass, sure. But be sure you are also addressing the soil so that the environment where the roots are is as good for growth as possible.

For most soils in Southern Utah, that means adding sulfur and other conditioners to balance and soften the soil. Additionally, insecticides to control grubs and other pests are best applied before the critters have eaten your roots!

There is a big difference in keeping your lawn alive, as if on life-support, and feeding your lawn to thrive. A comprehensive program will do the latter and provide a place for you to enjoy your yard!

So, you’ve aerated your lawn and you’re on schedule with your fertilizers, pest and disease controls. The final piece is proper watering. For a healthy lawn, deep, infrequent watering is best. This encourages deep root growth. Deep roots indicate a thick, healthy lawn. Deep roots are tolerant of drought, weeds, and pestilence.

The Washington County Water Conservancy District is a great source—perhaps THE source—for marrying water-wise practices with the growing of a healthy lawn. Even in the peak of the summer, watering every-other-day, as the Conservancy District recommends, is sufficient for your grass!

Yes, there is some strategy in it: the goal is to get the soil to absorb as much water as possible, watering with short cycles, with some resting period between cycles. The grass is not benefitted when water is running off, so each cycle should stop before that point. The Conservancy District keeps their website up to date. Follow their seasonal recommendations for watering. Keep consistent in your other care, and water-wise watering is sufficient for a great lawn.

Again, there will be a difference between barely keeping your lawn alive, or watching it thrive, based on how you care for it beyond the water. Your watering practices may be the single-most important factor to the grass living or dying, but aeration and fertilizer practices will be the difference in having a lawn and enjoying your yard! And it all starts now, with an early spring aeration! Happy