Aeration is an essential part of lawn care, that helps make it healthy and green. The manual lawn aerator is a good option to consider over a power aerator. Here's more about its uses, types, usage tips, etc.

A lawn aerator is essential for a healthy and great looking lawn. It allows water, air, and nutrients to penetrate through the soil and reach the roots of the grass. If your lawn is showing signs of compaction, then this can be the best way to restore its health and look. There are two basic types: power and manual. You can purchase or rent one from a home improvement shop. If you are interested in doing this task yourself, then here's more information about the manual lawn aerators.

Who Should Use?
Basically those who have ample of time to work on the lawn, can opt for this method and do the task themselves. The amount of time you need to invest is more, hence this factor needs to be considered. Also, will you be able to invest that much energy, which is required to do this task? If you are healthy and have enough stamina for working with a manual tool, irrespective of the fact that your lawn is big enough ,then you can go for it.

Advantages
Manual aerators are best for gardens that are not too large. These are convenient enough to use and definitely less expensive than the power aerators. One advantage is that it allows you to work on small areas at a time and it especially becomes easy to work on corners and other areas that are difficult to reach with large equipment.

Types
This is a simple process of creating small holes in the ground. The type of holes made depends on type of aerator, which are coring and spiked. Spiked ones are the best for loamy soil, as these make smaller holes by pushing down the soil and are hence not very deep. However, these holes might not last for long. Coring aerators are the best for clay soils. While the spiked variant puts holes into the ground, coring aerators make holes by removing plugs or cores of grass and soil. Hence, this is considered to be a more beneficial model.

How to Use?
These aerators have a long handle and prongs that are attached to a cross-piece at the bottom. You need to hold the handles and push the prongs into the ground. They will be actually pushed while you step onto the cross-piece. Now pull back and move to another section. The number of prongs might vary according to the model. However, those with 3-4 prongs are difficult to push in and pull out of the ground.

Aerators penetrate the ground best when the soil is moistened, so you need to have a soft ground before you start working on it. So, either you can try the process after a rainfall, or you must moisten the soil by watering it. One must water the ground daily, starting a few days before you are going to do the aeration process.

Best Time to Aerate
You must aerate the lawn once in the fall. Avoid aerating in summers. Basically, this can actually damage the condition of lawn as the weather is very hot. Another period when you must avoid aeration is when weed seeds are prevalent, because this can cause a weed infestation.

So get the aerator and work to allow more air to circulate through your lawn. This will ensure that all the essential plant nutrients and minerals along with air and water reach the roots of your grass. What's more - this process will also help you remove any build up of thatch. With proper aeration, you can have a healthy and green lawn ready.