Aerating your lawn after snow and ice

As it was getting light this morning my daughter excitedly looked through her bedroom window and told us it had snowed.

It is a magical time of year when even the most neglected gardens look wonderful when snow covered and just for a brief moment in the gardening year everyone is equal.

At some stage this winter wonderland must pass us by and return this equality to its normal ornamental order.

Spring, although it is hard to imagine, is really not that far away and a little planning is needed now so that you can benefit as the season progresses.

One of the tasks I like to get done early (in between frosts and snow) is aeration of the lawn.

What method you use to achieve this really depends on the size of your grass area but I am assuming it is less than 50 square metres so I am going to use the good old fork.

I have a little border fork which over the years has been worn down and the points are quite sharp making it easy to push into the soft ground. The tines are also slightly curved but on a new fork the curve will probably be a little more pronounced.

Spiking is easy and most beneficial but we need to follow a few very simple rules.

1. Make sure that the lawn is not saturated as walking on the grass will more than likely add to compaction rather than cure it.
2. Always work backwards so that the new spike holes are left open for as long as possible.
3. As you work, push the fork away from you at a slight angle and then 'waggle' the handle. This will ensure the tip of the tines creates  a larger hole. In commercial speak we call this vertidraining although the method of achieving this is rather larger mechanical machines.
4. Stay off of your grass for at least a week to allow maximum air circulation and penetration to the roots.

Spiking is not a wonder treatment and you will not see an improvement straight away but if carry out this simple operation on a monthly basis and coupled with other maintenance tasks such as feeding, scarification, weed, worm and moss control then the overall condition of your sward will improve.

Lawns are very sensitive things and they give you back what you put in to them, be patient and regularly attend to its needs and you will be rewarded.