Soil compaction is a primary cause of an unhealthy lawn. If your soil is too tight to penetrate, the water and nutrients it needs can’t get deep enough. But there are a few things you can do to keep your soil loose and your grass thriving.
So, let’s take a look at what causes soil compaction and how you can alleviate it to keep your lawn healthy and beautiful.
The problem may also be long-term—events that are happening to your soil year over year. The pore spaces can be reduced to the point that air and water cannot move freely and plant roots cannot grow easily into the surrounding soil. The soil could remain overly wet longer than is healthy for the plants growing there.
There are a few additional factors that contribute to soil compaction. They include:
Soil Tillage: Tilling your soil is actually supposed to help break it up. But if you do it too much, it actually increases soil compaction. How? By breaking the soil structure down into aggregates that are too small, which leads to fewer pore spaces. It’s soil science.
Tilling Wet Soil: Avoid tilling in wet soil as soil compaction can occur and lead to poor root penetration in the growing season. If it rains, it’s best to wait a few days to allow the soil to become semi-dry. Always check your soil moisture before tilling.
Adding Sand: Adding sand to clay creates a compact mass that’s like concrete.
Another sign of soil compaction is thatch. A thick layer of thatch can starve your grass — even in the best conditions. If the nutrients can’t reach the plant, it will turn brown. Thatch buildup happens if there is poor soil aeration and drainage.
A way to find out if your soil is compacted is by determining its bulk density. Bulk density is an indicator of soil compaction. You can calculate it by dividing the dry weight of your soil by its volume. This volume includes the volume of soil particles and the volume of pores among soil particles.
If you find out that the density of the soil is not where it should be, you’ll have to take steps to loosen it.
One of the best ways to alleviate soil compaction is to aerate your lawn. A core aerator comes equipped with tines that will pull out plugs of soil and leave holes in your lawn. This will loosen the soil, and in turn, compaction decreases.
Warm-season grasses can be aerified starting in late spring through late summer. Cool-season grasses are best aerified in early fall or early spring.
At Lush Lawn, our core aeration service helps lawns stay lush and healthy year-round. We’ll use our state-of-the-art equipment to ensure optimal results. We give lawns the room they need to absorb nutrients — all while eliminating areas of standing water that can lead to lawn diseases. We recommend at least one core aeration service in the spring or fall, and even better if you’re able to aerate twice per season.
See how aerating can help relieve soil compaction in your yard, contact us today.