We\u2019re here to give great lawn care advice, not to bury the lede. So for those of you who don\u2019t want to read a treatise on lawn aeration – yes, you can mow your lawn right after aeration.<\/span><\/p>\n It just might not be the best idea. You might damage your mower (but even that\u2019s pretty improbable).<\/span><\/p>\n You\u2019re almost certainly better off to mow your lawn <\/span>before<\/span><\/i> aeration, in order to reduce the (admittedly slight) risk of damaging your mower. To understand why you want to mow your lawn before aeration, it\u2019s helpful to understand what aeration is, how it helps your lawn, when you should be doing aeration, and what you can do after aeration.<\/span><\/p>\n Basically, we\u2019ve created an entire guide to aeration, all to answer the simple question posed in the title.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s plug in.<\/span><\/p>\n Aeration is a perfect example of creative destruction – it\u2019s the process of taking chunks out of your lawn so that new grasses can grow. That might sound a bit – well, brutal – but it\u2019s actually essential to aerate your lawn if you want to maintain its health.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n You\u2019ve probably seen signs telling you not to step on the grass or lawn plenty of times before – maybe as a kid you got yelled at by curmudgeonly neighbours when you stepped on their freshly-mown lawn.<\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s a reason for all of this. Dirt compacts over time – the more people stepping on the lawn, the more quickly the dirt compacts.<\/span><\/p>\n When dirt is compacted, nutrients like oxygen and water have a harder time reaching the roots of the grasses. This leads to your grass being starved of what\u2019s good for it. This can lead to thatch building up too quickly – too much thatch leads to your grass being deprived of even <\/span>more<\/span><\/i> nutrients, and the vicious cycle continues.<\/span><\/p>\n Aerating creates perforations in your lawn. These perforations not only allow nutrients to reach the roots of your grass – they also create space for the roots to spread out, leading to stronger grass.<\/span><\/p>\n There are two common types of aeration – plug aeration and spike aeration.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Plug aeration is almost always done by a professional – they have the tools required to plug aerate. Plug aerators lift \u201ccores\u201d of soil from your lawn.<\/span><\/p>\n Spike aeration can be done by hand (or worse yet, by foot), but it\u2019s generally frowned upon by Winnipeg lawn care<\/a> professionals. They don\u2019t remove cores – they simply create holes. These holes can actually make the soil around them <\/span>more<\/span><\/i> compact – and that\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re trying to alleviate with aeration!<\/span><\/p>\n Dethatching is another way of getting more nutrients into your lawn and creating space for your grass to grow. So which is better: dethatching or aeration?<\/span><\/p>\n Generally speaking, aeration is a better option – the dethatching process, especially when not handled by professionals, can lead to healthy grasses being ripped out. In some circumstances, however, you might want to dethatch <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> aerate a lawn – this can be the case if there\u2019s a <\/span>very<\/span><\/i> thick layer of thatch.<\/span><\/p>\n The advantages of aeration should be pretty clear at this point – doing it leads to a healthier, lusher lawn! If your lawn is always spongy, if you find there are thick layers of thatch, or if your lawn looks unhealthy, aeration may well be a good option for you.<\/span><\/p>\n At this point, we can start looking into the relationship between mowing and aeration. It\u2019s true that you almost always want to mow your lawn around the time you\u2019re aerating it. Nothing we\u2019ve talked about so far screams \u201cYou need to mow your lawn\u201d, though, so what\u2019s the deal?<\/span><\/p>\n The need to mow your lawn when you aerate it is actually only loosely tied to the aeration itself. The truth is that the best time to overseed is right after aeration, and you want to mow before you overseed.<\/span><\/p>\n For those of you not in the know, overseeding is the process of seeding more grass into your lawn – it\u2019s different than reseeding because you\u2019re sowing the seeds on top of existing grasses, rather than starting over. It\u2019s perfect for replacing dead grass and revitalizing your lawn.<\/span><\/p>\n Overseeding and aeration make great friends – you\u2019ve just created a bunch of space for roots to spread out and nutrients to penetrate the soil. These are ideal conditions for new grasses to grow. The best time to overseed is immediately after aerating a lawn. Of course, you don\u2019t want to overseed <\/span>before <\/span><\/i>you aerate, or you\u2019ll displace or damage all of the seeding.<\/span><\/p>\n Finally, we can get to the meat of the matter – the connection between aeration and mowing passes right through the connection between mowing and overseeding. Before overseeding, you want to mow your lawn particularly low – you may also want to rake your lawn to remove dead grass and debris, as well as to loosen the top soil. All of this gives the new grass plenty of room to grow and access to nutrients.<\/span><\/p>\n Because you\u2019re going to mow your grass before overseeding, you\u2019ll always be mowing around the time you aerate. Now that we\u2019re equipped with all of this information, we can answer why it\u2019s usually best to mow your lawn before (and not after) aeration.<\/span><\/p>\n The reason you want to mow before aeration has everything to do with the little cores we\u2019re going to pull up during the aeration process. The first reason is one we touched on during the intro:<\/span><\/p>\n Honestly, this isn\u2019t that likely to happen, especially if you have a high-quality mower – the cores are mostly composed of soil, after all. That said, with all other things being equal (and they are), you might as well mow before in order to limit your risk. The cores can also dull your mower\u2019s blades, and who wants to sharpen blades more often than they have to?<\/span><\/p>\n The cores the plug aerator removes will slowly break down when exposed to the elements, adding nutrients back into your lawn. Letting the process happen naturally, rather than catching the plugs in your mower, can slightly improve your lawn\u2019s health.<\/span><\/p>\n All in all, you <\/span>can<\/span><\/i> mow after aerating, but there\u2019s really no reason too. It\u2019s not all that harmful (and mowing before isn\u2019t <\/span>all<\/span><\/i> that helpful), but seeing as you\u2019re going to mow anyway, you might as well mow before aerating.<\/span><\/p>\n Here in Winnipeg, the best time to aerate is almost always in the fall – because the best time to overseed is during the fall. Leaves have started falling off the trees – that means your lawn can absorb more nutrients from the sun. There are fewer weeds, and fewer active diseases that can attack seedlings, as well as a lower chance of pests and pest infestations.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Winnipeg lawns are predominantly composed of cool season grasses like Kentucky bluegrass and fescue – if for some reason you\u2019re reading this and you live in the south, you might want to aerate earlier to help grasses under heat stress. Also, thanks for reading – welcome (virtually) to Winnipeg!<\/span><\/p>\n At this point we\u2019ve answered the question posed in the title, but we always like to give a little extra TLC here at Cleanr, so here are some tips to help you prepare for aeration:<\/span><\/p>\n Having read the article so far, you understand why you want to do this. Moving on:<\/span><\/p>\n You <\/span>really<\/span><\/i> don\u2019t want to pull a core out of your sprinkler – that\u2019s an expensive mistake. Either remove your sprinkler system or mark it off so the aerator doesn\u2019t cause any damage.<\/span><\/p>\n While there are the aforementioned spike aerators (and another type known as slashing aerators), the best aerators are mechanical plug aerators. You can rent a machine yourself, but it\u2019s almost always less expensive <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> less work to get a lawn care professional\u2019s <\/span>lawn aeration services<\/span><\/a>. Surprising, but true.<\/span><\/p>\n Once you\u2019re done aerating, you can do a whole host of things – yes, even mowing. More commonly, however, you\u2019ll do what we\u2019ve talked about – overseeding! You can also fertilize or water your lawn. Most often, we recommend overseeding and fertilizing immediately after aerating.<\/span><\/p>\n And with that, you know everything you need to (and more) about the relationship between aeration and mowing. Any questions? Feel like we missed something? Get in touch with us!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We\u2019re here to give great lawn care advice, not to bury the lede. So for those of you who don\u2019t want to read a treatise on lawn aeration – yes, you can mow your lawn right after aeration. It just might not be the best idea. You might damage your mower (but even that\u2019s pretty improbable). You\u2019re almost certainly better … <\/p>\nWhat is aeration?<\/b><\/h2>\n
Don\u2019t step on the grass!<\/b><\/h3>\n
The types of aeration<\/b><\/h3>\n
Dethatching vs. aeration<\/b><\/h3>\n
The advantages of aeration<\/b><\/h3>\n
Mowing and aeration<\/b><\/h2>\n
Aeration and overseeding<\/b><\/h3>\n
Mowing and overseeding<\/b><\/h3>\n
Why you should mow before aeration<\/b><\/h2>\n
The cores could damage your mower<\/b><\/h3>\n
The cores are best left undisturbed<\/b><\/h3>\n
The best time to aerate<\/b><\/h2>\n
Preparing for aeration<\/b><\/h2>\n
Mow your lawn<\/b><\/h3>\n
Mark off all the sprinkler systems<\/b><\/h3>\n
Get a mechanical aerator<\/b><\/h3>\n
What you can do post-aeration<\/b><\/h2>\n