If you’re a homeowner, chances are you already know the importance of aerating your lawn.
This process ensures that oxygen and nutrients can penetrate the soil, thereby encouraging healthy root growth for your grass. However, it’s not unusual to find unsightly plugs of soil lying around post-aeration – in fact, it’s a telltale sign that the service has been done properly.
You might be wondering if you should leave them be or pick them up.
In this blog post, we’ll delve deeper into this common lawn care concern and provide you with everything you need to know.
First off, let’s tackle the question on everyone’s mind:
Should You Leave Plugs on the Ground After Aerating?
The answer is a resounding yes. These soil plugs are essential to the lawn’s health and should be left to decompose naturally. Over time, they will break down and release valuable nutrients back into the soil, which is essential for your grass’s growth. Furthermore, the holes left by the soil plugs help to improve drainage and promote stronger root growth in the long run.
However, the key to ensuring that these plugs decompose effectively is to keep them moist. Keeping your lawn well-watered after aeration will help the plugs break down more quickly and benefit your lawn’s health.
Why You Should Think Twice About Picking Plugs Up
Some homeowners may want to pick up the plugs for aesthetic reasons. After all, who wants unsightly soil plugs littering the lawn? We get it. But we do recommend resisting the urge to tidy up after an aeration service is completed.
However, if you plan to pick them up, you should know that it can be a labor-intensive process and NEVER pick up plugs if you’ve had aeration & seeding service, as disturbing the germination process will impact its effectiveness:
- It is best to use a rake to collect the plugs (only be practical if you have a small lawn)
- Dispose of the collected plugs in a compost pile or fill in low spots in your yard
Leave Soil Plugs On Your Lawn For Best Results
They help to decompose and release valuable nutrients back into the soil, which encourages healthier grass growth overall. However, if the plugs are unsightly and you wish to pick them up, you can use a rake for small lawns. It’s best to keep the collected plugs in a compost pile to benefit the environment even further. Ultimately, the decision lies with you, but we strongly suggest that you save yourself the trouble and leave them be.
Your lawn will thank you for it.
FAQs
Should You Leave Plugs on the Ground After Aerating? The answer is a resounding yes. These soil plugs are essential to the lawn's health and should be left to decompose naturally. Over time, they will break down and release valuable nutrients back into the soil, which is essential for your grass's growth.
Should you pick up lawn aeration plugs? ›
Frequently Asked Questions About Aeration Plugs:
Ideally, leave them where they are. They'll break down in a few weeks, returning vital nutrients to the soil.
How to remove plugs after aerating? ›
Running plugs over with a lawnmower or breaking them up with a rake allows the plugs to disintegrate and return to the holes they came from.
Do I need to fill holes after aerating? ›
If you're using a hollow tine aerator, leave all the excavated soil plugs it creates on top of the lawn to break up and decompose and later fill up the holes left behind by the aeration process.
What fertilizer to use after core aeration? ›
After Aeration Overseed and Fertilize
Immediately after aeration, your lawn is ripe for overseeding and fertilizing. The holes provide excellent soil exposure for seeds and deliver fertilizer directly to the roots of your grass. For best results, use high-quality seed and fertilize with Milorganite®.
What is the ideal plug to pull when aerating? ›
Aerating machines should remove plugs of soil from the turf, creating a system of large pores by which moisture and plant nutrients can be taken into the soil. They are referred to as core aerators. Core aerators pull plugs about ½- to ¾-inch in diameter, 2 to 4 inches deep, and about 2 to 6 inches apart.
What to do after your lawn is aerated? ›
What to do After Lawn Aeration
- Step 1: Seed Your Lawn. If you're planning on seeding your lawn after aeration, it is important to do it as soon as you aerate. ...
- Step 2: Water Your Lawn. ...
- Step 3: Fertilize Your Lawn. ...
- Step 4: Mow Your Lawn. ...
- Step 5: Avoid Heavy Traffic on Your Lawn.
They will break down by themselves in one or two weeks. Rainfall will speed this up, as will watering the lawn. Mowing helps, but don't mow the grass too soon post-aeration. It's unusual that the plugs would remain after three or four weeks, but mowing and raking will break them down by that point.
How long does it take for aeration holes to close? ›
Within a week or two, these plugs of thatch and soil break apart and disappear into the lawn. About 7 to 10 days after aeration, the aerification holes will be filled with white, actively growing roots.
Can I put grass seed down after aerating? ›
2) If you're going to aerate, you'll want to do this beforehand. Typically, overseeding 48 hours following aerating is a best practice, as this will give the seed the best chance of getting into the soil. Aerating will also help to correct problems in your lawn such as thinning.
Aerating is easiest on you (or your equipment operator) and your lawn when your soil is moist from irrigation or rainfall the day before. Overly dry soil can be tough to aerate, so moisture eases the process. Never aerate overly wet lawns; wait a few days instead.
How long does it take for greens to recover from aeration? ›
“I'd say it's two to three weeks, in that typical timeframe,” he says of how quickly greens will fully recover after aeration. “The springtime aerification can take a little longer just because of the inconsistency in weather.
Should I pick up plugs after aerating? ›
As we've established, don't remove aeration plugs. It takes approximately one to two weeks for the plugs to break down on their own, but there are some things you can do to help the plugs break down faster to tidy up the lawn. You can hope for rainfall, but you can also water the lawn to help the plugs break down.
Should I sand my lawn after aeration? ›
When using sand after aeration, the sand fills the holes and helps change the soil structure, improving its drainage and increasing the growth of healthy grass. Masonry sand is a great option because it's free of debris, weeds and pebbles.
Should I mow before core aeration? ›
Prior to aeration and seeding, a lawn should be mowed at a height of 1.5 to 2 inches. Any clippings left on the lawn after this close cut, should be bagged, blown or raked off the lawn. This is necessary to maximize seed to soil contact as the seed is spread. This is a key factor in successful germination.
How many times a year should you plug aerate your lawn? ›
But if your grass is healthy and thriving and hasn't been impacted by a lot of equipment or foot traffic, it likely doesn't need aeration. Once annually is usually enough in most cases, and for healthy lawns that receive regular maintenance and are performing well, every two to three years may be sufficient.
How deep are aeration plugs? ›
The holes are typically 1.5 to 6 inches deep (more on what depth we recommend below) and the holes are 2 to 5 inches apart. So, what exactly does aeration do? It allows for air circulation at the root level of your lawn. This provides the optimal soil condition for healthy grass and growth.
Do you need to detach if you aerate? ›
But remember to dethatch before you aerate. Dethatching removes debris to make lawn aeration a whole lot easier and less time-consuming. Note: Symptoms of thick thatch and compacted soil can be quite similar.
