Aeration and Your Inground Sprinkler System

You've invested in an inground sprinkler system, but you're not going to get the best results possible with compacted soil. Walking, mowing, playing - all these activities will pack down the soil making it difficult for grass to spread and grow like it should. Thatch is organic matter that builds up on top of the soil, like grass clippings, that prevent water and air from reaching down into the soil to the roots.

Aeration takes small plugs of soil out of your lawn allowing the soil to soften and for air and water to circulate deeper to root level. This helps grass and other plants grow and spread faster and healthier. Aeration helps your soil absorb fertilizer and reduces runoff. After aeration, grass is more drought tolerant and stands up to wear and tear better.

The best time to aerate is spring or fall. After aeration your lawn will be covered in small plugs of soil. There's no need to gather these up or collect them in any way as they'll degrade on their own. After a week to ten days, you should be able to see roots growing in the holes. Success!

Nutri-Lawn Burlington offers professional aeration services.

Is aeration safe with an inground sprinkler system?

Yes!

Our lawn care specialists use specialized equipment for aeration, but with care there should be no damage to your inground sprinkler system. We may ask you a few questions:

Location

Inground sprinkler systems are a significant investment, so our aeration specialists will want to take extra care. Let us know when you book the appointment that you have an inground sprinkler system. If we installed the system, that's even easier because we will have marked the sprinkler heads already. If someone else installed the system, mark the sprinkler heads with small flags available at your local hardware store. This will make the process a little faster and easier for everyone.

Depth

There are a number of existing laws that require an inground sprinkler system be buried between 15 and 23 cm below the surface. If Burlington Sprinkler Systems did the installation there's no worry, but if someone else did the installation you may wish to contact them to be sure. Aeration doesn't reach that deep into the soil so it shouldn't be an issue, but better safe than sorry.

Manual Aeration

Of course, another solution is to do manual aeration around the sprinkler heads with shallow piping. With this process, no plugs are removed but just slits in the ground. Our staff have a specialized tool for this job. This takes a little longer to do but may be the safest option for certain types of inground sprinkler systems.

We want your lawn and garden to perform and look its best and we can help you get the results you're looking for! The experts at Nutri-Lawn Burlington Irrigation can help you take the guess work out of residential irrigation and offer the major brands with professional expertise. Contact us today for your complimentary quote.