Keeping your lawn in tip-top shape can sometimes be a challenge.
Whether it’s too much rain or too much sunshine, your lawn will always have a need for the best care that you can give.
Thankfully, there are various tools you can use to help grow a healthy, green lawn. In this article, we will discuss tools that help you with lawn aeration and scarification, but first, let’s understand what these are.
What is scarification?
Lawn scarification is the process of removing thatch and other dead organic material from the surface of a lawn. This can be done manually with a rake or more effectively with a machine.
At John Miller Garden Machinery we have a range of scarifiers for sale which will dramatically improve the quality of your lawn over time by allowing the grass to spread and grow stronger.
The main reasons to scarify your lawn are to remove thatch, reduce soil compaction, and improve the overall health of your lawn.
Scarification is usually done in spring and then again in late summer or autumn when the ground has cooled down enough to allow it to work without hurting the grass blades.
What is lawn aeration?
Lawn aeration is slightly different, but still with the aim of improving the health of your lawn. Aeration is the process of making holes in the lawn to allow water, air and nutrients to reach the soil.
Aeration helps control thatch build-up, which is a layer of dead grass that builds up on the lawn.
The process is done by using lawn aerators, which are machines with metal spikes or tines. The spikes from these grass aerators are driven into the ground to create holes and the spaces (also known as plugs) that are removed are then left on top of the soil and allow for more oxygen, moisture, and nutrients to reach the roots.
This can help to reduce drought stress during hotter summers and improve overall turf health.
What's the difference between scarification and aeration?
The difference between scarification and aeration is that lawn scarifiers remove moss and unwanted growth such as moss while lawn aerators (also known as garden aerators) create holes in the soil to allow air and nutrients into the soil as well as the grassroots.
What’s best? A lawn scarifier or a lawn aerator?
Both options are important to maintaining a healthy lawn and the good news is that machine tools are available that do both!
At John Miller, our lawn scarifiers are also lawn aerators, which means that you can remove unwanted growth AND improve soil health with the same tool!
Do I need a lawn scarifier or a lawn aerator?
For medium to large-sized gardens, it’s highly recommended to use garden scarifiers and aerators. While small lawns can be managed with a rake, a fork, a bag and a lot of effort, it can be too much work for larger gardens and the result of all that work you put in won’t be as effective as using a lawn scarifier or aerator.
Scarifying and aeration can be a lot of work, especially if you are doing both, and grass aerators can allow you to manage larger areas of grass with ease. With the time you save compared to doing it manually, its also allows you to have more time to work on other areas of your garden!
Get in touch or visit our Wiltshire garden machinery shop to find out more about our great range of lawn scarifiers and garden aerators.