Fall Aeration & Overseeding Starts In September!
How has your yard fared in the heat this year? If you’ve noticed dry spots or unsightly patches now is the time to act so that come spring your lawn is bursting with life. Roanoke Landscapes begins its annual aeration in September. If you’re a client of our Property Maintenance Plan, you already know this as it’s included in our Silver and Gold plans. Additionally, our two Account Managers have begun making their lists of homes to overseed after aeration. Although not always a service included in your Maintenance Plan, in rare cases where we do recommend overseeding, it’s because our trained staff have noticed an issue in your lawn and are acting with foresight for the next season. It’s important to remember that grass is the workhorse plant in our yards. Through the seasons our turf takes a real beating. From the cold of winter into the heat of summer, our turf puts up with pets, pesky weeds, critters, kids, approximately 32 mows, backyard games, family gatherings, and the list goes on and on. All of these activities contribute to soil compaction, which inhibits the movement of nutrients and water through your turf.
Aeration & Organic Matter Application
Not to worry! If your grass needs new seeds planted this year, it’s ok and you most likely did nothing wrong if you’ve mowed regularly and utilized best practices! Remember, we ask a lot out of our turf and occasionally we have to give back no matter how well we cared for it over the spring and summer seasons.
If your lawn does require overseeding, Dennis Cauley, our Horticulturalist, has found the perfect seed for Virginia lawns; Aquamaxx Tall Fescue.
Why We Love:
Environmental Stewardship
Fastest Establishment
Survivability
Self-Repairing
This power packed product contains a scientifically blended mixture of everything new grass needs to succeed. Each seed is “pretreated with a patented blend of surfactants, proteins, natural growth promoting agents, nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, humic acids and a full micronutrient package.” (Landscape Supply Virginia- Check out the product here.)
Why aerate in the early fall? Or perhaps the better place to begin is why aerate at all? Aeration is an important step in maintaining a healthy lawn. SW Virginia soil is mostly clay based. Clay retains moisture and nutrients incredibly well, sometimes too well, which can lead to root rot or Pythium blight. These conditions tend to run together, killing the turf rapidly due to oversaturation of water in the root system. Aeration is a process that perforates the soil with small holes roughly 2-3 inches deep. Perforation opens the roots of your soil to the circulation of air and alleviates soil compaction and over saturation. Aeration not only improves the soil under your turf, but also removes built up thatch (decomposed organic matter between the green part of a plant and the soil- think grass cuttings) from the surface. Removing excess thatch gives your turf the chance to soak in thatch’s important nutrients without being suffocated by the volume most yards accumulate during the spring and summer.
We aerate in September as temperatures have typically cooled down a fair amount, but the first frost date is far enough in the distance to not threaten the exposed roots of your grass. The roughly 4-8 weeks your property will have to recover from aeration before the first frost will allow your turf to grow deeper and fuller roots, bolstering its success of survival through the winter and heavily increasing the chances your spring turf renewal will be fabulous!!
If you’re a patron of our Property Plan (Gold or Silver) you’ll see us again in October when we come back out to apply an overspray of liquid nitrogen and a broad leaf weed killer. We’ll release an additional article as October approaches to break down the benefits of this Property Plan perk.
It is important to not let time slip away on this lawn maintenance activity. If you’re not a client signed up with either our Gold or Silver Plan, don’t fret! There’s still time to call and get on the schedule to have your turf aerated and perhaps overseeded as a one time service call. Our professional team can provide guidance on the need to overseed for your lawn condition. Or, better yet, to sign onto on of our three plans (you can read an overview of our Gold, Silver, and Bronze packages here), giving you readily available access to all the Green Industry knowledge here at Roanoke Landscapes.