As the night time temperatures warm up and the grass starts to actively grow, aerating should be considered for the health of your whole landscape. While you have the holes open in your yard, there are many products that you can add to that root zone area that will benefit your turf, trees, and shrubs.
Aerating does several good things for your lawn, shrubs, and trees. Try to use an aerator that pulls up a plug with a hollow tine instead of a spike type aerator that is just a solid tine going into the ground. By removing cores of soil from your lawn and laying them on top of the ground, all kinds of good things happen. This cultural practice is one of the best for your landscape as a whole.
Aerating reduces compaction, reduces thatch, increases oxygen movement to the roots, brings beneficial microorganisms to the surface, cuts runners, and allows better penetration of water, fertilizers, or control products into the soil.
Right after aerating, while the holes are open, is a good time to add SeaHume G, BGK 7500, products containing mycorrhiza, Crab Shell, Mule Mix and/or Cotton Burr Compost.
· SeaHume G is a bio-stimulant humic acid product that will help your roots grow, soften up the soil, feed beneficial micro-organisms in the soil, make nutrients that are in the soil more available to the plants, and keep fertilizer from leaching.
· SeaHume G also contains 10% cold water seaweed. The seaweed also acts as a bio-stimulant and is a source of many minor elements.
· BGK 7500 is a granular organic product that has thatch eating bacteria mix in with a 03-03-03 fertilizer. BGK 7500 is also fortified with 6% humic acid.
· 04-04-04 Bolster and other products that contain mycorrhiza. By applying these products while the roots are exposed, the mycorrhiza can attach to the roots quickly.
· Crab Shell by Neptune’s Harvest will increase the chitin eating bacteria in the soil. These bacteria will help control nematodes and fungus. I would definitely use this product in areas that I have problems with large / brown patch.
· Mule Mix can last about 20 years in the soil and help manage moisture. This is a clay product that has been super heated until it pops! This makes this product sterile as well as turns it into a little capillary. This capillary holds water and then releases it as the plant needs it. This product is used on baseball infields to manage the moisture levels in clay; otherwise the clay would be rock hard or moist and slimy. Mule Mix will also keep fertilizer and water from leaching in sandy soils.
· Cotton Burr Compost will add water holding capabilities to the soil by adding organic matter to the soil. Cotton Burr Compost will soften up clay as well as giving sandy soil nutrient holding capacity. Cotton Burr Compost is very high in nutrition and will also help increase populations of beneficial organisms in the soil.
All the above products will help conserve moisture as well.
