Why Aeration and Top Dressing In Sarasota is Important for Your Lawn

If you’ve lived in Florida your whole life and never once thought about lawn aeration and top dressing, don’t feel bad.
 
Here in Florida, the soil is naturally sandy, which means it drains easily and doesn’t get compacted. 

Aeration to loosen up compacted soil is something for those saps up North, right? 

Not anymore. There’s been a new development, literally, which means it’s time to consider lawn aeration and top dressing here in Sarasota. 

Let’s take a look. 

New Developments and Hard Clay Soil

If your home has been around for decades, you might be off the hook. 

But new housing developments are usually built on clay soil brought in to create a more stable foundation for building than our native sandy soil. 

Florida building codes continue to take into account rising sea levels. That means new construction rules require building several feet higher than an existing structure. That means bringing in lots of that clay soil. 

Clay fill dirt is great when you’re building houses. It’s thick and  compacted and keeps houses from settling.

But if you could hear lawns weigh in on this, you’d hear them holler “Nooooooo!” Or you might hear crying or swearing, in tiny pitiful lawn voices. 

Turns out that same compaction home builders love is terrible for lawns. 

When your soil is compacted, your lawn can't breathe. Its roots can't take in the water and nutrients it needs to thrive.

When water can’t soak down deep into the soil, your lawn’s roots kind of freak out, shrinking and coming to the surface, looking for water.

Your struggling lawn gets weak. That makes it easier for weeds and disease to move in.

None of this is good. Lawn aeration and top dressing to the rescue.

How to Aerate a Lawn

Lawn aeration uses a pretty ingenious machine to pull out tiny cores of soil from your lawn, allowing water and oxygen to get to the roots again.

Aerating sod also helps break down thatch, a layer of dead grass that sits between the grass blades and the soil. When it gets too thick, thatch blocks air, water, and fertilizer from reaching your lawn’s roots.

When to Aerate Lawns in Florida?

It’s smart to have your compacted lawn aerated once a year to keep those grass roots breathing. It should be done when the grass is actively growing, ideally in spring here in Sarasota, at the beginning of the growing season. If you have a problem lawn, fall is a good time for follow up. 

Hmmm, What About All Those Little Holes? Feeding Time! 

After lawn aeration, you have a bunch of little holes in your lawn,  helping your grass breathe.

It’s the perfect set-up for lawn topdressing. Topdressing is food for your soil, a nutrient-rich layer of soil or sand blended with compost and other organics.

Lawn aeration and top dressing are a perfect pairing, like chips and salsa, or cookies and milk. (We’re happy to pause if you need a snack.)

All those little holes from lawn aeration help the topdressing materials nestle nicely down into the soil.

The blend of sand and compost top soil settles into the holes created by aeration and over time amends that compacted clay soil so lawn roots can really sink in. 

As the material settles, the nutrients release into the soil and do their thing — creating a strong foundation for a healthy and lush lawn.

Here at Tropical Gardens, we use Comand Soil in our topdressing, a specialty compost that helps restore the soil ecosystem by providing all-important organic matter and beneficial microbes crucial to soil health.

The result of this super lawn aeration and top dressing? Healthier soil; deeper, stronger roots and a greener, thicker lawn.

But Wait — There’s More

Sure, topdressing gives your hungry lawn a nourishing, all-natural meal, which is great.
But it offers other handy benefits, too: 

• Is your lawn sort of bumpy and uneven? (No judgment here.) A nice layer of sod topdressing evens it out, creating a level surface.
• As we mentioned earlier, soil here in Central Florida is typically sandy, which means water and nutrients drain through quickly. Topdressing adds some oomph to your soil, helping it retain the good stuff.
• Sod topdressing is chemical free, so it’s friendly to the environment.

Ready for a Lawn Boost with Aeration and Topdressing? Talk to Us

Not all lawn care services in Sarasota FL are set up to offer lawn aeration and topdressing. There hasn't been a big need around here. Now there is. 

You need lawn care experts on board who can set you up with everything your lawn needs, whether it’s aeration and topdressing for compacted soil or a targeted fertilizing plan for your sandy soil lawn, to make sure nutrients go straight to your lawn’s hungry roots. 

Add irrigation expertise to make sure your lawn gets the exact watering it needs, no matter the conditions.

We’ll help you figure it all out. 

Give us a call or fill out our form today! Our team of Sarasota designers can’t wait to help you with your lawn for your home or vacation rental property.