Lawn Aeration Calgary and Edmonton
Aeration can be the difference between a lawn looking lush and lasting through the summer and autumn months – and one that never quite looks up to scratch.
Core aeration ensures that air and water circulation are optimized, dead thatch is removed, and new growth is stimulated. It works great with lawn fertilization service to give you a beautiful, healthy lawn throughout the season.
A few simple steps are all it takes to get your lawn ready for healthy growth in the months ahead, creating a thick, luscious green grass that all the family can enjoy all summer.
Why Is It Important To Aerate Your Lawn?
Without core aeration, your lawn will struggle to flourish through the main growing months of spring, summer, and autumn. Grassroots need oxygen and water to grow and thrive. When your soil becomes too compacted, roots don’t get enough of either. Aeration goes beyond the surface appearance and ensures that, below the ground as well above it, your lawn is in good shape.
In fact, it achieves many positive things for your lawn:
- Breaks through the dead thatch and eliminates layering
- Stimulates the breakdown of thatch
- Relieves soil compaction
- Improves air (oxygen) exchange with roots
- Stimulates new growth with its vertical mowing action
- Reduces puddles and allows more efficient use of water
- Improves fertilizer uptake and drought stress tolerance
- Improves turf resilience and cushioning
- Improves curb appeal
Who Needs To Aerate?
Any Calgary and Edmonton homeowner with a lawn that has not been aerated this year should be considering lawn aeration.
To check if your lawn needs to be aerated, you can take a six-inch-deep core sample of your lawn. If the grassroots only grow in the first 1-2 inches, the soil may be too compacted.
Ideally, your soil should be 50 percent solid dirt, with 25 percent water and 25 percent air. If your soil is more compact than this, it makes it difficult for grass to grow.
To get more oxygen and water into the soil, it needs to be aerated by removing small plugs of soil from across the entire lawn.
Most Calgary and Edmonton lawns require aeration if they:
- Grow in heavy clay soils
- Are overrun with weeds
- Have excessive puddling and water runoff
- Have thin and sparse grass coverage
- Have excessive thatch buildup
Some homeowners aerate three times per year and most golf courses aerate four times per year because of heavy usage, soil compaction, and the need to maintain a pristine appearance. We do not recommend aeration for soil that has stones, rocks or tree roots right beneath the surface.
Competitive Pricing
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Our Lawn Aeration Packages
Spring is an excellent time to start getting serious about your yard. For homeowners in Calgary and Edmonton who want to keep things simple, we’ve created some Spring packages that bundle all the essential services together.
The Silver and Gold packages both include lawn aeration, as well as power raking, blowing out of beds, and first cut and trim.
Silver Spring Package
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Lawn aeration
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Blow out of beds & hedges
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First cut and trim
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Debris removal (2 bags included)
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Gold Spring Package
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Lawn aeration
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Blow out of beds & hedges
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First cut and trim
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Debris removal (2 bags included)
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Power raking
Lawn Aeration Only
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Best between May & June
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Minimum once per year in the spring
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Available from April 1 to November 15
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Encourage deep root growth
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More resistant to droughts and weeds
Other Lawn Care Services
You may also like to consider a weekly lawn cut service to promote healthy growth and help keep your lawn weed-free. An actively growing lawn naturally thickens and helps to choke out the weeds.
You can book these services online 24/7 here.
The Aeration Process
The lawn aeration process uses an aerator machine that leaves small holes in the soil, approximately 6 cm deep and 1.5 cm wide, allowing water, oxygen, and nutrients to better reach the grassroots. It also creates deeper and healthier roots, which helps your grass to grow thicker and stronger.
Step 1
One of our expert crew members walks the machine back and forth across your lawn, in a similar pattern to when cutting your grass.
The rotating hollow tines pull out virtually unnoticeable plugs of grass and soil every few centimetres.
Step 2
The plugs are deposited on top of the remaining grass, where they will break down and further enrich your lawn.
The plugs should not be removed from the lawn as they aid growth. However, we will remove the plugs if you prefer, for an additional fee.
Step 3
Our crew will blow off any dirt or debris left on your sidewalk or other surfaces.
Note that if other yards and lawn procedures are being performed in the same visit, aeration will be performed last.
Yardworx Tips
There are a couple of preparatory measures you can take before our crew arrives at your home:
- Safety first, aerators can easily damage irrigation heads, so make sure sprinkler heads are clearly marked with spray paint or sticks
- Two days before aeration, water your lawn thoroughly. This will help the tines go deeper into the soil and help the soil cores fall off the tines.
When Is The Best Time To Aerate Your Lawn?
Do's
We have long winters here in Calgary and Edmonton. It is best to wait for your lawn to thaw completely and be free of winter-freezing to determine if it needs aeration.
For most lawns, between May and June is the best time to aerate. If required, it can be performed again in the fall.
There are no hard and fast rules for aeration but a minimum of once per year in the spring is a good guideline to use.
As mentioned, make sure all the snow is gone and the lawn is well thawed. Aerating a lawn when it is moist allows you to pull bigger plugs, which will be healthier in the long run for your lawn.
Dont's
Aeration immediately after heavy rainfall is not recommended as soil cores may stick in the hollow tines of the aerator.
You will also need to make sure that the grass is not too green or the active roots will prevent the plugs from breaking down. If you have to aerate in the summer, you may not be able to avoid this but the process will still benefit your lawn.
In the case of a dry spring, we recommend watering the lawn well before aerating (as opposed to power raking, where you want a fairly dry lawn).
If you prefer to aerate your lawn in autumn, do it before the ground has started to freeze.
Yardworx's Note
You can book our lawn aeration services anytime between April 1 – November 15.
Frequently Asked Questions: Aeration and Overseeding
We often get asked about aeration and overseeding.
Overseeding is the process of spreading grass seed directly onto the lawn without removing any old sod. This can help to fill in bare patches and improve the thickness and colour of the lawn.
This should be done in the first few weeks of the growing season. After the ground has thawed out and is still moist, it’s a great time to aerate the lawn.
Overseeding can be done after the aeration process is complete, and if the rains arrive that’s fine as the seeds will love the water.
After the aeration process is complete, we distribute the seeds on the existing lawn areas and apply a top dressing of soil to protect them from blowing away in the wind or birds eating them.
Watering is very important once the seeding has been applied. You will need to water the areas at least four or five times per week to stimulate the germination process.
Why Choose Yardworx
Yardworx is the one-stop-shop for lawn care in Calgary and Edmonton. Our 30 years of experience gives us the expertise to get the job done right.
Flat Rate Plan
For a set monthly rate, our crews will visit your residence to remove the snow after every snowfall. This package is unlimited – we’ll come every day if needed.
Save Time & Labour
Our services will save you time and labour, allowing you to focus on the more important aspects of your life
Insured & Bonded
We are insured and bonded to ensure a property owner is never negatively affected.
Easy Ordering
Our online booking tool makes our services very accessible. That means you can order tonight, at home in your pyjamas. It’s that easy!
Book with us in 2 simple steps
Step 1: Book your services 24/7 through our online form
Step 2: We will schedule your services based on your postal code. Every postal code has a designated day of the week from Tuesday to Thursday. The crew may alter the day slightly due to their schedules and weather but do their best to keep as close to the same day each week.
Please note that we try to have every property serviced in a timely manner but all services are weather dependent.
We always pick up the phone, and we’re looking forward to speaking with you—so give us a call or order online.