Every year I see so many people in their yards spreading fertilizer, pulling weeds, and planting grass seed only to be disappointed with their results. Fertilizing and seeding alone will not give you the lawn of your dreams. Other tasks such as aerating, dethatching, cutting your lawn at different heights (depending on the time of year) and lawn cutting patterns are just as important as other basic lawn care tasks.

Aerating your lawn will boost your lawns performance when fertilizing and seeding your lawn by allowing the fertilizer and seed to reach deeper in the soil instead of lying on top of the soil. As the fertilizer and seed reaches deeper in the soil it promotes a healthier root system resulting in a thicker, deeper, green lawn which helps keeps weeds and other lawn damaging growth like crabgrass and clover out of your lawn.

There are two common aerating systems to use for your lawn. The first is the plug aerator which punches holes in your yard (generally 1 to 3 inches long and a ¼ to ¾ inch diameter). This type of aerating system works best for lawns with high traffic, compacted clay like soil, and lawns destroyed by drought. The second aerating system is the spike aerator, which come in many shapes and sizes. This aerator is good for lawns that are softer and instead of creating holes in the lawn it creates grooves making it cleaner than the plug aerator. However, one common criterion for each system is they each need weight to push the teeth into the ground.

How to Use a Spike Aerator for Better Lawn Growth

Step 1: Choose the right size and shape of spike aerator. This aerator is a good size for a lawn around ½ acre. With enough weight placed on top of the aerator and medium soft soil it will go between 2 ½ and three inches into the ground.

Step 2: Connect the spike aerator to the lawn mower. Some aerators are self powered and other aerators are manual. If you have the luxury of having a riding lawn mower then this spike aerator works great.

Step 3: Add weight to the spike aerator. Most aerators, but not all, are built to handle the weight and size of standard concrete blocks (8x8x16, 40 pound). This example uses two concrete blocks for a total weight of 80 pounds. I tried to use more than the 80 pounds of weight and the frame started to warp on the aerator.

Step 4: Test a small patch of your lawn before using the aerator with weight on the main part of your lawn. Doing this test will allow you to determine if the lawn is too wet or too dry or if the correct amount of weight is used. Your path should look close to the example given in this article.

Step 5: Aerate several times a year. I like to aerate 3 times a year. Once at the beginning of the growing season before I put down turf builder with crabgrass control, second during the middle of the season as I spread fungus control or drought control and third when I put down winterizer.

NOTE: My favorite time to aerate for these three periods is the day after it rains. I find with 80 pounds of weight this spike aerator digs deep enough in the ground for seeding and fertilizing.

Don’t waste your money and time by just putting down fertilizer and seed. A small investment in an aerator and even a dethatching system will go a long way.

What are some of your favorite techniques you use for your lawn?

Creating and maintaining a beautiful lawn takes a lot of time and dedication. Let’s face it, it also takes a lot of money to keep your lawn looking its best. Seeding, fertilizing (Starters, Turf Builders, Crabgrass Controls), weeding, aerating, cutting, trimming, treating for fungus, insects, grubs, pests, and watering all have a monetary and time cost associated with each task. However, one of the tasks I find to be most important is dethatching. Dethatching your lawn will help promote all of your other lawn care tasks and in the end save you time and money.


There are many methods for dethatching your lawn. The method I use has given my lawn great results. Generally, it’s good to start off the growing season with dethatching, but it’s never too late to start especially if you have never had your lawn dethatched.

How to Find a Dethatching System that Works for You

There are several types of dethatchers. First, are the hand held ones that look like a metal rake but instead of having teeth it has half moon shaped blades. Running these blades on your lawn back and forth will bring the dead grass to the top. You can also use a plastic leaf rake, but it may take you more time and energy. A second method is to use an automatic dethatcher. These are motorized systems that are designed to dig deeper in the ground, aerate, and seed. You can rent this type of dethatcher at Home Depot or your local hardware store. The third method, which is the one I use, for larger portions of my lawn is a pull behind dethatcher.

How to Use a Pull Behind Lawn Dethatcher

Step 1: Before using your dethatcher remove as much debris such as branches, rocks, and even tall grass.

Step 2: Cut your grass at a moderate height to allow the dethatcher to pull up the dead grass and allow room for a second grass cutting.

Note: If you don’t own a dethatching system that catches the dead grass use a lawn mower with a bagging system instead of raking. The amount of thatch is always more than expected and using the mower to pick up the dead grass will save you time and energy.

Step 3: Hook up your dethatcher to you riding lawn mower.

Step 4: Place and secure blocks or weights on your dethatcher if the design allows for it. This will help the dethatcher to stay firmly on the ground thus pulling more debris to the top of the lawn.

Note: If your lawn is to wet or too weak dethatching your lawn may cause fresh healthy grass to be pulled out of your lawn. Always test a small patch of your lawn first to determine if the right conditions exist for dethatching.

Step 5: Start dethatching at a moderate speed. Going too fast will cause the teeth of the dethatcher not to catch all of the debris.

Step 6: Remove debris from the teeth of the dethatcher. If the teeth of the dethatcher get to much dead grass or debris it will not work as efficiently as clean teeth.

Step 7: Evaluate and cleanup the thatch. A normal dethatching first run will yield a moderate level of thatch. It is o.k. to make more than one pass over the same lawn area. Just make sure the dethatcher isn’t pulling up healthy parts of your lawn.

Dethatching your lawn may cause you to second guess if you did the right thing because of all the mess and work it creates. However, doing so gives all the other tasks you do to your lawn extra benefits by allowing, for example grass seed or fertilizer to reach the dirt instead of lying on top of dead grass.

What are some lawn care tips and tricks you like to do for your lawn?

Dandelions can disrupt a beautiful lawn and are often unavoidable in early spring. Taking the time each year to prevent weeds by applying a “weed and feed” product can help to reduce the number of Dandelions in your yard, but even the occasional weed will sprout. These occasional weeds are easy to remove and removing them will help to keep your lawn beautiful with very little time or money involved.

Tools and Supplies

Garden Spade
Weeder
Grass Seed
8 Ounces Water

How to Get the Roots

Getting the roots of the weed is the crucial part of the removal process. Pulling the top off the weed will not prevent the weed from returning in a few weeks. By removing the entire plant–roots included, will keep the weed from returning. This simple process is a chemical-free way of removing the root.
Step 1: Locate the weed.

Step 2: Using your fingers, uncover the base of the weed.

Step 3: Insert the Weeder about a half inch from the base of the weed and push straight down.

Step 4: Using the Weeder like a lever, push up on the weed. This will loosen the entire root for removal.

Step 5: Remove the Weeder and insert the garden spade into the whole.

Step 6: Use the garden spade to completely extract the weed and root from the ground.

Step 7: Sprinkle grass seed in the empty hole.

Step 8: Fill in the hole with soil. NOTE: Additional soil will be needed. This can be a small scoop from a flower garden or you can use top soil to fill in the hole.

Step 9: As an extra measure, you can sprinkle a few seeds on the top layer of soil to ensure proper grass growing. NOTE: If you do not have grass seed on hand, simply fill the hole with soil and the grass around the whole will eventually overtake the empty space. This is a longer process for grass growing and leaves the area more vulnerable for a new weed to take root.

Step 10: Lightly water the new grass seeds to promote a healthy start.

Taking time to make your lawn beautiful is challenging, yet rewarding. Small steps can go a long way to making your lawn the best in the neighborhood. Do you have any lawn maintenance tips? Feel free to share your thoughts on weed prevention.

There are many reasons why your lawn might be turning brown.  A few reasons include your lawn might be getting too much sun which causes it to burn or you have the wrong type of grass for your location, it could be you have over fertilized, your lawn is infested with grubs, or your lawn doesn’t drain well enough and the water trapped in your grass smolders as it gets hot essentially burning your grass. However, one of the most overlooked reasons for brown spots is fungus.

How to Identify Lawn Brown Spots

Identifying the differences of brown spots in your lawn is the first step to treating the problem and in this case fungus. If your grass has patchy brown spots on the blades of grass then your lawn may have “dollar spots” or Sclerotinia.  The other type of brown spots to look for is brown blades of grass interwoven with other green blades of grass in patches.

Earlier fungus treatments required sprays or simply digging up or thatching the area for new grass to grow.  I have recently found a product by Scotts to treat for fungus that allows me to spread a dry solution on my lawn, which is found stores like Home Depot (search for “Scotts”).

Scotts recommends these important steps and notes to remember when applying Scotts Fungus Control.

How to Use Scotts Lawn Fungus Control

• Apply with a drop-type or rotary spreader.
• Do not apply by hand or hand-held spreader.
• For best results, with a rotary spreader, apply during a calm period of the day.
• If necessary to apply when a breeze is blowing, move in the direction of the wind to prevent material from blowing toward the operator.

I prefer the Deluxe Edgeguard rotary spreader. The Deluxe Edgeguard requires less walking and spreads more equal (on a non-windy day).  The Edgeguard can be switched on and off for areas where you do not want the chemical to be applied such as sidewalks and gardens.

How often to apply Scotts Lawn Fungus Control

• Repeat at 2 to 3 week intervals.
• During periods of high day and night temperature and humidity, two week treatment intervals may be needed to achieve best brown patch control.
• Maximum number of applications is 4 per year.

What Scotts Lawn Fungus Control Controls

Diseases: Controls the following turfgrass diseases: Brown Patch, Dollar Spot, Stripe Smut, Pink Patch, Red Thread, Copper Spot, and Anthracnose. Suppresses the following turfgrass diseases: Fusarium Blight, Necrotic Ring Spot, and Summer Patch.

For further information read the label of Scotts Fungus Control Bag.

Identifying brown spots in your yard can be difficult.  If this method does not work then at least you have identified what the problem is not.  Try targeting other causes of brown spots like heat, grubs and poor drainage.

Do you have any ideas, products, or recommendations to improve the quality of your lawn? We would love to hear from you. Also, if you are experiencing a problem with your lawn please feel free to ask questions and we will try to provide a solution for you.