Chicago aeration services
Many Chicagoans are increasingly frustrated by the condition of their lawn. Your other neighbors may seemingly grow a healthy, full lawn that is free of bare patches with minimal effort. It may seem as though they do nothing more than water, mow and trim their grass regularly. When you apply similar efforts, however, your lawn may never have the full, lush look that you desire. This is a common problem, and one of the more common reasons for this issue is compacted soil.
The most common type of soil in Chicago residential areas is clay loam. This material generally becomes compacted rather quickly because of its unique properties. Compacted soil is problematic for your grass for several reasons. When the soil is compacted, grass roots cannot easily grow deeply in the ground. This means that the grass is not as well-established as it needs to be for optimal health. Also, compacted soil creates unhealthy grass because air, water, and fertilizer cannot easily reach the roots.
Your neighbors with beautiful lawns likely have similar soil as is in your yard. With this in mind, you may wonder what the difference is between your yard and theirs. Your neighbors may have different factors present that impact how compacted the soil is. Consider that compaction may be more severe in areas with more foot traffic from people and pets. Also, weather conditions can lead to greater compaction. Chicago receives an average of 36 inches of rain as well as 36 inches of snow each year. Some rains can be hefty, and the force of the rain can compact soil. If your neighbors' lawns are partially covered by foliage, the impact of heavy rains may be minimized. Also, the heavy weight of accumulated snow and ice result in compaction. Environmental conditional may be present in your neighbors' yards that result in decreased compaction. For example, snow and ice may accumulate less in those areas.
There is one additional reason why your property's soil may be more compacted, and this is related to aeration. Your neighbors may have more recently aerated their soil. They may regularly aerate their soil to prevent it from becoming too compacted. On the other hand, you may not have aerated your soil in years, if at all.
Because of Chicago's long, intense winters as well as its chilly spring and fall months, cold season grasses thrive in local yards. The most common grass found in Chicago-area yards is Kentucky bluegrass. Others are tall and fine fescues as well as ryegrass. Regardless of the type of grass in your yard, the grass must have aerated soil to grow and thrive. This is particularly important in Chicago because of local soil conditions.
Aeration is a relatively basic process, but it can take several long hours or more to complete. Some Chicagoans aerate their own lawns. They take time out of their limited free hours to do extra yard work. They also invest their funds in aeration equipment. Some people purchase the wrong type of aeration equipment. Despite their considerable investment of time and energy, they produce minimal or no results because of their equipment selection.
Aeration involves poking holes into the ground at regular intervals across the entire length of the yard. However, some tools puncture holes by pushing into the ground. Other devices create holes by extracting plugs. You can see that the first type of tool creates soil that is more compacted while the second type of tool legitimately loosens the soil. The more affordable aeration equipment at local stores is usually the first type, so it is a tool that many homeowners often reach for. These tools cover minimal ground with each plunge into the soil, so you may make frustratingly slow progress while producing minimal or no results with them.
With minimal free time available in your busy schedule, spending hours aerating your entire lawn is not ideal. When you consider the possibility that your efforts may backfire and create worse conditions for your grass, you understandably want to find a better way to aerate your lawn and to create the best growing conditions possible.
Chicago is known as the Windy City because of its lake-effect winds from nearby Lake Michigan. The city is also known for its vibrant culture, exceptional cuisine, professional sports teams and more. The metropolitan area spans across more than 10,800 square miles. This is the third most populated metropolitan area in the country. With this in mind, there is always something going on for Chicagoans to enjoy regardless of their interests.
In some cases, these are special events, such as professional games for the Chicago Bears football team, the Chicago Cubs baseball team or the Chicago Bulls football team. It may be performing arts shows at the Symphony Center, the Victory Gardens Theatre and other popular venues. Perhaps it is a local festival, such as the World Music Festival Chicago, the Chicago Blues Festival or the Chicago Country Music Festival.
The best time to take hours out of your week for lawn aeration is when local weather conditions are exceptional, but these weather conditions are ideal for leisure activities at local parks. It's more popular parks are Lincoln Park with its famous zoo, Washington Park and the Chicago Botanic Garden. Between these attractions and events as well as movie theaters, entertainment venues, restaurants, shops, museums and more, you could find dozens of exciting or relaxing ways to enjoy time away from work that are preferable to aerating your lawn.
While this may be the case, aeration is still essential for grass health. Lawn Love specializes in helping Chicagoans like you get the beautiful lawn that you desire, and one of the many services that we can assist you with is aeration. Aeration ideally should be completed at least once each year in Chicago. If the time has come to aerate your lawn, schedule the service that your property needs through Lawn Love today.
