Didn’t have time to water this summer, and now your lawn is looking a little “toasty?” Maybe you’re even seeing a few bald spots in the grass from the extreme heat or insect damage? Don’t worry … you’re not alone. Many homeowners have been struggling with dried out, dead-looking lawns the past few weeks.

As the weather starts to cool down, Benjamin Lawn & Landscape, LLC will be offering some additional services to help rejuvenate your lawn: Aeration, Verticutting, and Over-Seeding.

The extreme summer heat, insect damage, and thatch build-up have all contributed to lawn damage, and watering through the Fall is simply not enough to repair your grass. To properly recover, your backyard needs:

  • 1. Fertilization to replenish the nutrients your lawn needs to thrive
  • 2. Aeration to de-thatch and reduce compaction of soil to promote a healthy root system
  • 3. Over-seeding to repair bald spots and prepare your lawn for 2012

Depending on the extent of your seasonal lawn damage, we might suggest one service over another … but in the meantime, we thought it would be a good idea to prepare a general overview of how and why Aeration and Verticutting work.

Aeration:

To aerate your lawn, we use a piece of equipment that looks a bit like a medieval torture device … it’s a big, heavy machine covered in tube-shaped spikes that punches holes throughout your lawn. As we push it through the grass, the hollow tubes dig into the ground and pull up 2-3” plugs of earth with each roll.  When we’re done, the lawn is covered with a pattern of small holes and thousands of little plugs.

It may not be the prettiest lawn treatment, but aeration is very effective. With one treatment we can significantly decrease the compaction of the soil, allowing grass roots to expand and thrive. The added benefit of aeration is thatch removal, since thatch blocks water, fertilizer, and other nutrients from being properly absorbed by grass roots. With the holes left behind, a much stronger root system will develop as water and nutrients can more successfully penetrate the ground cover. And next spring, the results will speak for themselves – aeration will ultimately result in a thicker, more wear resistant lawn!

Verticutting:

In some cases, heavily damaged lawns require over-seeding to repair. We verticut these lawns to achieve the best results. With verticutting, a machine is used to cut straight lines through your lawn. Like aeration, it will also de-thatch, but rather than produce holes, verticutting will create slices through the soil to create a proper seedbed.

Verticut Lawn - Benjamin Lawn & Landscape, LLCWe believe that verticutting (also called “Slit Seeding”) is the best way to prepare for over-seeding – particularly if a lawn is thin, weed-infested, or heavily damaged by summer disease like brown patch or dollar spot. By removing thatch and cutting even rows, an evenly distributed seedbed will create an even lawn. And when combined with the starter fertilizer included with the treatment, we can easily repair past damage and restore your backyard.

We welcome feedback, so please feel free to email us directly with questions, or post a comment on our blog! And if you’re ready to schedule an appointment for aeration or verticutting and over-seeding, please contact us right away. September is already filling up fast, and we want to be sure to properly prepare your lawn for the Fall season.  

HOW CAN WE HELP YOU?

Our Most Frequently Asked Questions

Call us for free estimate at 913-788-6089 today!

WordPress › Error