Aerate Your Lawn This Spring For Lush, Green Grass

“April is the cruellest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain.” – T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land

I do not agree with T.S. Eliot that April is the cruelest month. January certainly has a claim to that distinction; at least April marks the start of baseball season. Still, there is no arguing with the fact that this time of year “dull roots are stirred with spring rain.” Although the weather outside your window may be dreary, that is no excuse to sit back and wait for the lush green brought on by May. If you want to take full advantage of the rain, there is work to be done, starting by aerating your lawn.

What does it mean to aerate your lawn? Simply put, aerating pokes deep holes in the soil under your grass, allowing air, water, and nutrients to seep down to the roots. As you would expect by the word “aerate,” it means allowing your lawn to “breathe.” Now, you could hire a company like Scotts to handle this for you, but you could also just do it yourself. More and more people are taking this latter route. One of the #1 new products on all of Amazon is the Hermsche Coring Aerator.

Hermsche Plug Aeration Manual Lawn Coring Aerator 4 Core with Semi-Open Slot Hollow Tine Lawn Aerator Heavy Duty Plug Core Aeration Tool for Compacted Soils and Lawns Yard, 36.2″ x 11.7″, Black — $34.99

At $35, the price is definitely right on the manual Hermsche tool. However, if you really want to invest in your lawn this spring, you can go all out and buy Sun Joe’s electric dethatcher and scarifier. Unlike a coring aerator which digs deep holes, the Sun Joe machine focuses more on breaking up dead grass buildup on the surface of your lawn.

Sun Joe AJ805E 15-Inch 13-Amp Electric Dethatcher and Scarifier w/Removeable 13.2-Gal Collection Bag, 5-Position Height Adjustment, Airboost Technology Increases Lawn Health, Green — $179

Your third option when it comes to preparing your lawn this April is lawn aerator shoes. They work exactly as they sound—they are shoes with spikes that do the aerating for you as you walk across your lawn.

FSTSLK Metal Lawn Aerator Shoes – Spiked Shoes for Lawn Care – Grass Aerator – Aluminum Base – 3 Adjustable Straps Yard Aerator – Heavy Duty Metal Buckles – One Size Fits All — $32.99

Any of the three products above will help you use the April rainfall to your advantage. With hard work and some luck, April showers will not only bring May flowers but also a verdant front lawn.