Letter: Autumn best time to improve lawns

To the editor:

This is a great time of the year to core aerate your lawn, but show me the cores.

I have noticed a couple of neighborhood lawns that recently were aerated. A core aerator removes plugs of soil and leaves the plugs on the surface to disintegrate later. No plugs were found in the lawns; just some small holes and indentations. Cores are usually about the diameter of a finger and about 1 to 2 inches long.

The past few summers have been tough on lawns, and many lawns are in the need of seeding in bare spots. Core aerating will allow seed, air, water and fertilizer into the soil as well as help loosen compacted soil.

The ideal time for seeding is mid-August to mid-September, but if you have some large bare spots, it’s worth reseeding now. You still may need to reseed again next spring. Seed must be in contact with the soil to germinate and grow.

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