As a lawn care company in Weston, one of the most frustrating things we experience is hearing homeowners give up on the idea that they can have a good looking lawn. There are common myths and misconceptions around what it takes to achieve great grass growth. One common misunderstanding: that if you have hard, compacted soil or a lot of clay in your lawn, you can’t have great grass. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Why Does Compacted Soil Hinder Grass Growth
Not all soil is alike. One of the primary ways soils differ is how close the soil particles are to each other. When there’s a great deal of distance between the particles, it’s easy for oxygen, rainwater, and other nutrients to penetrate down deeply into the soil. That’s where the roots of your grass are, and they really appreciate being able to easily stretch out and collect all of this good stuff.
When there’s not a great deal of distance between the particles, it becomes much harder for oxygen, rainwater, and nutrients to penetrate the soil. It’s also much harder for the grass roots to stretch out and harvest the needed nutritional material. The result of this combination is poor grass growth.
Sometimes there’s not a lot of distance between the soil particles because it contains a lot of clay. Other times there’s not a lot of distance between the soil particles because the soil’s been put under pressure, perhaps by vehicles or heavy foot traffic in the area.
Understanding Lawn Aeration
Lawn aeration is a service provided by your lawn care professionals. Using special equipment, they introduce many very small (the size of a pencil eraser, roughly) holes into your lawn. This helps loosen the soil and creates the openings needed for rainwater and nutrition to penetrate.
Another option to discuss with your lawn care service is soil augmentation. Using the appropriate supplements, over time, the lawn becomes more favorable to successful grass growth. Don’t give up on your lawn before you know what can be done to help make it great.
