Irving Sprinkler Repair
If your lawn isn’t as healthy as you wish and suffering, contact your Irving Sprinkler Repair experts. Maybe you’re having an issue with your sprinkler system and need an irrigation system specialist? Sprinkler Repair of Texas will be glad to take a look and see what you have going on. Does it seem like your grass isn’t as healthy as it should be? It could be an issue with your water, or even how you cut the grass, or maybe even the land itself. You can have all sorts of things that mess with a yard and its upkeep.
Talk with an Expert Lawn Care Specialist in Irving
It couldn’t hurt to get a professional perspective, right? If you’re out of ideas, researched all you can, tried every trick in the book, it might be time for a local lawn specialist. It is possible they’ll recommend aeration if you don’t already do this. Aeration is very important for a healthy lawn. It allows rich nutrients, water, air, and whatever else to penetrate through lawn thatch which prevents the transfer of water and nutrients to the soil. There is a nasty lair between the grass itself and the soil that creates runoff, wasting precious water and precious money if you’re paying for your water.
What is Aeration?
Simply speaking, it’s just poking holes in your lawn. Mainly, it’s penetration into the soil to fix compacted soil and lawn thatch. Soil that’s compacted holds too many solid particles. This keeps air from circulating correctly along with nutrients and water. Too much thatch and debris will starve the roots.
To Aerate or Not to Aerate?
Not every lawn needs aeration especially if it gets a lot of use, such as tons of foot traffic from people or animals. All of the traffic will compact the soil. If it was part of new construction, then in many cases, the topsoil is stripped or buried, and the grass has grown on subsoil that was compacted by construction equipment and foot traffic. If it dries easily with a spongy feel, then you might have excessive thatch. Any thatch later found to be bigger than half an inch gets the green light to aerate. If established by sod, and soil layering is in play, then there’s a finer soil laid on coarser soil that exists. Drainage gets disrupted and poor root development follows.
Aerating Tools
- Plug/Core Aerator – Uses hollow tines to scoop up plugs of soil. This leaves gaps in the soil which just basically look like little holes all over the yard. These are generally more effective in heavy clay soil than spikes.
- Spike Aerator – Uses a roller with spikes to basically stab a hole into your yard. The punctures create holes for air and water to get into the soil through the thatch. Generally more effective in crumbly soils high in loam and sand.
Ideal Conditions
In order to function correctly, certain conditions need to be in place. Ideally, your soil should be moist but not supersaturated. If it’s dry then plug aerators have a hard time removing the “plug” so to speak.
It just tends to crumble. Spikes tend to actually compact the soil instead of loosening in these conditions, accomplishing the exact opposite of its intended purpose.
Aeration Impact
Plug aerators are displacing portions of your soil from the root zone in its lawn. It has great effects on the structure in the long run, but short term sees issues with stress on the grass. They’re recommended to
use during the active growing season of the yard. Spike aerators do not impact lawn health nearly as much and you can generally use them at any point in the year.
What to Consider
Plug aerators are most effective with annual use for at least 3 years in a row, while spike aerators provide temporary benefits offset by compaction from around the sides of the holes created by the
spikes.
Overall, when you have a sprinkler system in need of repair, it’s important to get things fixed as quickly as possible, but if the water can’t ultimately reach its end destination, then it is kind of pointless unless of course, there’s a leak just killing your bill. Each case is different, so consider speaking to an expert and licensed professional for all of your yard needs.