DIYbanter - View Single Post - Lawn Aeration vs letting the squirrels and birds do it

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wrote:
On Mar 25, 4:44 pm, Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply
wrote:
Logan Shaw wrote:

Maybe it prevents it from running off, and thus saves water. I don't
know that it does, but I certainly sounds like that was the implication.

Exactamundo. When clay soil gets wet, it swells, which keeps water from
getting any deeper. So you either have to do keep doing MAJOR
augmentation with things to keep is less claylike, or you punch holes
down deep so the water can get down lower so your grass doesn't die from
just having a sprinkle of water on the top.

My bermuda grass survives just fine in this clay soil with aeration to
get the water going deeper.

In addition to soil issues, aeration is important if a lawn has a
thatch problem. Thatch is dead and slowly decaying plant parts,
mostly crowns, that exists between the top of the plant roots and the
surface. If it gets too thick, it becomes like a thatch roof and
water won't penetrate. That leads to insufficient water and promotes
disease. Aeration punches holes through it, which not only lets water
in, but also aids in the bacterial breakdown of thatch.

Aren't the Robins pulling worms doing the same thing, for free. Well
not totally free, I put a plate of water out for them, the big males
camp out all summer.