About 5 years ago I installed a sod lawn in our front yard. We have pretty bad clay soil here so before putting the grass down I added a ton of compost and rototilled it into the soil.
The lawn looked fantastic for he first 2-3 years, but has since become a bit thin.
I'm 95% sure it is because the soil is still very solid clay and has become even more compacted. I can barely push a screwdriver into the soil and water and air doesn't seem to get inside very well.
So, I've been meaning to aerate for years. I purchased a hand aerator, but it just plugs up and becomes useless after the first push into the soil. I've finally decided to hire someone to come and use a professional core aerator to pull out the plugs.
Once I have the plugs out I think I'll rake them up and then spread about an inch of compost / humus and try to work it down into the holes.
I'm also thinking about overseeding at the same time, but not sure if I should.
Anybody have experience with core aeration, top-dressing a lawn, etc?
The lawn looked fantastic for he first 2-3 years, but has since become a bit thin.
I'm 95% sure it is because the soil is still very solid clay and has become even more compacted. I can barely push a screwdriver into the soil and water and air doesn't seem to get inside very well.
So, I've been meaning to aerate for years. I purchased a hand aerator, but it just plugs up and becomes useless after the first push into the soil. I've finally decided to hire someone to come and use a professional core aerator to pull out the plugs.
Once I have the plugs out I think I'll rake them up and then spread about an inch of compost / humus and try to work it down into the holes.
I'm also thinking about overseeding at the same time, but not sure if I should.
Anybody have experience with core aeration, top-dressing a lawn, etc?