Aeration and Your Inground Sprinkler System

Aeration is a great investment in the health and look of your lawn, but how will it work with your inground sprinkler system? We're glad you asked!

Aeration can be a vital aspect of lawn care because compacted soil doesn't absorb water as efficiently. Walking, playing, mowing - these activities all aid in packing down the soil and potentially preventing your grass from growing healthy roots. You may also have a layer of thatch that is preventing your grass from spreading effectively or keeping water from reaching the soil. Thatch is organic matter that builds up on top of the soil, such as grass clippings, that prevent water and air from reaching down into the soil to the roots.

Why Aeration?

The aeration process will see small plugs of soil removed from the lawn to allow the soil to soften and promote circulation and water absorption. Ideally, the water is most effective when it can reach root level for your lawn. Aeration helps grass put out strong roots and spread efficiently and quickly across the bare spots in your lawn. Fertilizer is absorbed better and water runoff is reduced with aeration. 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 Ottawa offers professional aeration services.

Aeration With Inground Sprinkler Systems

Is aeration safe with an inground sprinkler system?

Yes!

Our lawn care specialists use special high-powered equipment for aeration, but with care there should be no damage to your inground sprinkler system. A few questions to consider when contacting us about this service:

Location

If you have an inground sprinkler system, let us know when you book the appointment. Our aeration specialists will ensure your inground sprinkler system is protected during the entire process. If we installed our inground sprinkler system then we know it was installed correctly at the proper depth, if someone else installed your inground sprinkler system let us know that too. If possible, mark the sprinkler heads such as small flags. This will make the whole process faster and more efficient.

Depth

Most inground sprinkler systems are installed between 15 and 23cm below the surface to comply with municipal bylaws. The aeration machines we use don't reach that depth so there shouldn't be any danger to the inground sprinkler system. The biggest risk is to the sprinkler heads which is why it's helpful to know where those are in the lawn before we get started. If your sprinkler system is older, let us know just in case it might not submerged as deep as new systems.

Manual Aeration

For peace of mind, it is possible to aerate your lawn manually, especially for sprinkler heads with shallow piping. With this process, no plugs are removed but narrow slits are cut into the soil. We have a special tool for this job and it takes longer, but if there's any question about the safety of your inground sprinkler system this remains an option for our customers.

We want your lawn and garden to perform and look its best and we can help you get the results you're looking for! NutriLawn Ottawa Irrigation is a full service lawn care and irrigation company and can take care of all your lawn and garden care needs.
Contact us today for your complimentary quote.