We have made no secret about the fact that we believe lawn aeration is one of the best things that you can have performed at your home. When people ask us, will aeration help my lawn? The answer is a confident YES!
In fact, we love to use the example of what aeration was able to achieve on the lawn used for Musikfest. We’ve said before that if aeration can restore a lawn that has been completely trampled and is nearly destroyed, then imagine what it can do for a residential lawn like yours.
Video: Will Aeration & Overseeding Regrow My Lawn?
There are certainly some wonderful things aeration can do for your lawn—but there are also plenty of things that it can’t do. Lawn aeration is not a fix-all solution to every potential lawn problem.
We get a lot of other questions such as will aeration kill weeds or will aeration help with moss?
So, we want to take the time to explore what aeration will and won’t do for your lawn. We’ll cover the most common questions that we get asked.
Will Aeration Help a Bumpy Lawn?
One of the questions that homeowners often want to know is will aeration level my lawn? Homeowners who have a bumpy or uneven lawn might be hoping that an aeration service will have some sort of impact on leveling things out.
Unfortunately, aeration is not going to fix a bumpy lawn. Whether it’s just a few low spots or it’s a completely uneven lawn, these issues all come down to re-grading. Aeration is not going to have an impact on a lawn’s grade.
Will Aeration Kill Weeds?
Another common inquiry that we receive is will aeration kill weeds? This is a bit more of a complex scenario.
The actual process of aerating and making holes in the lawn (by pulling soil cores) is not going to magically kill weeds in the process. We do know that’s what many homeowners are hoping for and we wish it were that easy.
However, the process of aerating will make your soil so much healthier and that will cause grass to grow thicker. In time, weeds will have a difficult time growing in a thick lawn. As time goes on, you’ll need fewer weed control products as your lawn will start naturally choking out weeds.
So, in that sense, aeration can eventually help your lawn in terms of weed resistance. It’s just a long-term goal (and won’t happen overnight).
Will Aeration Help with Drainage?
When it comes to a lawn that is not draining well due to compacted soil, lawn aeration can help. Lawn aeration helps relieve soil compaction not only by making holes throughout the lawn but also by allowing the soil cores that are pulled to naturally decompose and loosen the soil.
As the soil becomes less compacted, more oxygen, water, and nutrients can penetrate down to the root zone where they’re needed most. This means that instead of having water pooling at the surface, it will get down to the roots where it’s needed to help them grow healthy and strong.
Will Aeration Help with Thatch
Thatch is the organic layer made up of dead and living stems which naturally occur on the top of the lawn. A little bit of thatch is not a big deal. However, once thatch begins to build up more than a half inch, it can start to cause trouble. One of the biggest issues with thatch is that it creates a favorable environment for lawn pest and disease problems. It can also create poor growing conditions for your lawn.
Fortunately, lawn aeration can play a role in breaking up thatch and allowing more oxygen, water, and nutrients to penetrate through that layer (and through the soil itself). This will help to produce an overall healthier lawn.
Will Aeration Help with Moss?
Moss tends to grow in damp, shady areas where grass isn’t growing its best. If you’re dealing with some mossy areas, you might be wondering if aeration can help.
Unfortunately, this is a case where aeration is not going to make a big difference.
Instead, you’ll need to focus on a better solution for growing grass in those shady areas. The fact is, even shade grass seed mixes still require some sunlight to grow and perform their best.
Some potential fixes to getting your grass to grow better in the shade (and in turn reducing moss) are to prune trees, consider a better grass seed mix, or perhaps implement entirely new landscape solutions in those areas (such as extended mulched tree rings or plant beds).
Getting the Most Out of Lawn Aeration Service
While there are certainly a lot of wonderful things that aeration can do for your lawn, it’s not a fix-all or a magic bullet. And oftentimes you do need to be patient to see it start to do its work. The changes that you can expect won’t happen overnight—but they WILL happen.
So to sum it up, the answer to the question will aeration help my lawn? is YES. 
Aeration is honestly one of the best things that you can have done for your lawn. Even though it won’t fix all potential problems that your lawn may be dealing with, it’s going to get your lawn in much healthier shape to grow thicker and even greener, too. Because we know that lawn aeration can make a tremendous difference in your lawn’s overall health, it’s something that we’d love to see all of our clients have performed.
If you’d like to know more about how Joshua Tree can help meet your lawn needs at your home in the Allentown or Lansdale, PA area, or you have more questions, we’re here to help! Get in touch with us to get some free expert advice and learn more about our lawn care program options.
