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Manual Lawn Aerator | Lawn Aerators | Gardening & Landscaping - Most Eco-Friendly: Sun Life Lawn Aerator Spike Sandals
We use cookies and similar technologies to run this website and help us understand how you use it. We recommend these products based on an intensive research process that's designed to cut through the noise and find the top products in this space. Guided by experts, we spend hours looking into the factors that matter, to bring you these selections. You make sure your lawn gets the right amount of water weekly, whether from rain, a hose, or your sprinkler system.
You fertilize regularly. If this scenario strikes a chord, the reason might well be a failure to aerate. While most homeowners value a healthy, green lawn, the unfortunate fact is that most varieties of turf grass tend to be prima donnas, and keeping your lawn looking its best takes time, elbow grease, and even a bit of luck. There are quite a few tasks required to maintain a healthy lawn, including watering, fertilizing , weeding, mowing, disease and pest control, and aerating.
At the most basic level, aeration means poking holes into the soil beneath your lawn so that water, nutrients, and oxygen can easily reach the roots.
Over time, the soil beneath your lawn tends to become hard and compacted, particularly in areas with heavy or clayey soil.
Symptoms of a lawn suffering from compaction include the following:. While heavy, clayey soil naturally compresses over time, there are several other factors that lead to excessive compaction that can damage your lawn:. You can rent gas-powered aerators at many home improvement or garden centers. However, if you have just a small lawn or strip of grass, a manual lawn aerator will get the job done, and no need to smell gas fumes or bother with the inconvenience of renting a machine.
Spike aerators basically just poke holes into the soil. They do help loosen the soil and improve the health of the grass to a certain extent. Plug aerators remove a little cylinder or plug of soil, roots, and grass. These aerators are more effective at loosening and improving the soil. There are three basic types of manual lawn aerator: aerator shoes, handheld aerators, and rolling or push aerators, each with its own pros and cons. Aerating shoes: These are spike aerators that strap over your regular shoes and have nail-like metal spikes on the bottoms of the plastic outsoles.
Using them is easy: just strap them on and walk back and forth across the width and length of the lawn two or three times, changing directions at each pass. Handheld aerators: These resemble a pitchfork with two or three sharp tines and a long handle. There are two basic forms of handheld aerators: those that remove plugs of soil and grass, and those that are just spike aerators. With either style, you should make several passes across the entire lawn in different directions to thoroughly aerate the stretch of turf.
Handheld aerators have longer tines than aerating shoes, and the sharp tines dig down easily into compacted soil and so are more effective. Plug-style handheld aerators are the most tiring type of manual lawn aerator to use and therefore only suited to small lawns.
Push aerators: These are also called rolling aerators or lawn spikers. They consist of a sturdy handle and cage-like rolling drum covered with sharp spikes. This is the best type of manual lawn aerator for midsize lawns. Inexpensive: Aerating shoes are the least expensive type of manual lawn aerator. Mid-range: Handheld aerators typically cost more than aerating shoes but less than rolling aerators.
While any of the manual lawn aerators in the matrix above will get the job done, there are other excellent choices available. Just step on the platform to drive the double prongs deep into the ground, tilt and pull back, and two plugs of soil drop into the attached collecting container.
Wheel forward and repeat. Push the four curved spikes into the ground, twist, and voila! When should I aerate my lawn? While spring is an acceptable time to aerate any lawn, the best time depends on the type of grass you have. As a general rule, aerate cool-season grasses, such as ryegrass, fescue, and bluegrass, in the early spring, after the last frost date for your area, or in the early fall, before cold weather sets in. For warm-season grasses, which include Bermuda grass, zoysia, and St.
Augustine, late spring is the ideal time for aeration. Should I clean up the plugs of soil scattered atop my lawn after using a plug aerator? If you find the plugs unsightly, go ahead and rake them up and dispose of them in your compost pile.
Best Manual Lawn Aerators. BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing, and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers.
We only make money if you purchase a product through our links, and all opinions about the products are our own. Read more. We buy all products with our own funds, and we never accept free products from manufacturers. Bottom line. Best of the Best. Yard Butler. Check Price.
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Click here for testing insights. Models Considered. Consumers Consulted. Hours Researched. Updated April Written by michelle. Buying guide for best manual lawn aerators You make sure your lawn gets the right amount of water weekly, whether from rain, a hose, or your sprinkler system. Compacted soil leads to a patchy, weak lawn. Aeration helps restore the good health of your grass. The most effective lawn aerators remove a plug of soil and grass, leaving behind a small hole.
Our Top Picks. A manual spike aerator that can dig 3" into the soil to improve lawn quality without digging out plugs of soil. Shop Now. Works best on well-maintained lawns for occasional aerating, but the shoes may not be able to handle harder jobs. Top Pick. The best manual lawn-coring aerator for a simple but effective way of maintaining the yard. A 4-pronged lawn aerator with a foot placement option for easy repeated use.
This aerator is comfortable to use and delivers appreciable results on problem lawns. This walk-behind model uses 5 rolling spiked wheels and heavy weight to accomplish the task of aerating your lawn.
One of the best ways to cover a lot of ground in a large yard more effectively than simple aerators. A reliable and simple lawn aerator that is easy to use in smaller yards and spaces.
Manual lawn aerator.Seven of the best lawn aerators, from manual to combination machines
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A handheld aerator is much easier to store and can get into tight places where a tow-behind aerator cannot go. Yard Butler offers both plug core and spike handheld aerators.
The plug type has two tines that will penetrate up to 3. The spike aerator has four 3-inch spikes. Both aerators are made of steel, measuring 37 inches high and weighing around 4 pounds. Each has rubber padded handles and a footrest for ease in pushing the aerator into the soil. While you might be tempted to try aerating a lawn with golf shoes or cleats, you need actual aerator shoes to get the job done.
With 13 solid steel spikes in each shoe, penetrating up to 2 inches, the Ohuhu Lawn Aerator Shoes aerates a lawn properly. The spikes strap onto sturdy shoes with adjustable hook and loop fasteners.
Measuring 12 inches long and 5-inches wide, the shoes will fit most men and women. It takes a bit of practice to find your rhythm.
Start with small steps and use a walking stick or tool handle for support until you get the hang of it. To make the task easier, lightly water the lawn for easier penetration. Aerating may allow your lawn better access to the water and air it needs to grow. But it also doesn't address the issue of piled-up and compressed growth, which can prevent all that from happening. For this, many lawn care experts recommend "scarifying" or de-thatching—removing the built-up thatch. It is physically difficult to do this with a rake, both for the energy it takes and for the amount of distance needing to be covered.
We found that the electrically powered Sun Joe AJE, which uses a rotating bladed cylinder to scrape up the detritus, accomplishes the task effectively and in far less time. We like the product for its amp electric motor, and for its The pound, ETL-approved de-thatcher features a single-handle, five-position depth control, from less than half an inch below the soil to just under half an inch above.
This way you can be sure you set the machine to remove what you want removed and not an entire swath of sod. The scarifying blade is pre-attached, but you also can swap out a rake attachment included, but you need an adjustable wrench.
The handles require minimal assembly, with included hardware. We recommend using the Sun Joe without the included collection bag, as it is fairly small and fills up fast, requiring interminable emptying. Also, this is not a machine for large lawns, as the manufacturer strongly advises using an extension cord no longer than feet.
Our top pick is the Brinly-Hardy inch Tow Behind Plug Aerator , which works well on clay and sandy soils, and has a heavy-duty steel construction that will last for years. If you're specifically looking for a tow-behind spike aerator, the Agri-Fab Spike Aerator is a great choice. It has galvanized spikes that can penetrate to a depth of 2. If you have hard, clay soil or water puddles in the grass after rain, then you should choose a plug aerator. By removing larger pieces or plugs of dirt, nutrients can penetrate more easily to the roots of the grass.
If the soil is sandy or loamy, then the more narrow puncture of a spike aerator will give you the aeration needed. Not sure what type of soil you have? Grab a handful of the soil and squeeze. If it forms a hard lump in your hand, you have clay. If the soil does not stick together and falls away easily, you have sandy or loamy soil. Tow-behind aerators are best for lawns larger than one-half acre and regular in shape. Consider the width of the aerator and your turn radius as you shop.
For smaller lawns and irregularly-shaped grass spaces, choose a push aerator, handheld model, or aerator shoes. A tow-behind aerator is going to require something to pull it along. You must have a lawn tractor, ATV, or small utility vehicle. Tow-behind models and push models also need weights usually several concrete blocks to help them penetrate the soil. Consider the storage space required for all of these items.
The best type of aerator depends on your lawn, storage space, and budget. Spike aerators use long spikes to make holes in your grass to allow water and nutrients to reach the roots and soil. Spike aeration is a temporary solution that works best on small lawns with loose loam or sandy soils.
You can get small spike aerators that are handheld or attach to your shoes, or larger push or tow models. For large areas with hard, compacted clay soils, plug aerators work best. When pushed down into the soil, a plug aerator removes plugs of dirt.
We advise you to consider aerating because it also promotes soil compaction and dethatching. Compacted soils have a variety of solid particles that are likely to inhibit the proper circulation of essential nutrients, water, and air in the soil.
Excess thatch means that your lawn has accumulated too much organic debris between the soil surface and the green grass blades. The dense cover can hinder the essential elements from penetrating into the soil. You, however, can solve this issue by aerating the soil. So we have already established why it is crucial for you to aerate your lawn. Unfortunately, most homeowners are still uncertain of the proper time to actually carry out soil aeration.
If you belong in this category, here are some of the things that you need to look out for to identify when to aerate your lawn. If your lawn is subjected to heavy use, for example, your kids or pets spend most of their time playing in the backyard, you need to aerate your lawn. If your lawn is spongy or if the grass dries out much faster then this could be an indication that your lawn has excessive thatch. To be sure of this you can remove a section of the lawn using a shovel.
If the thatch covering the blades of grass exceeds one and a half inches, we recommend that you consider aeration. We also advise that you aerate the lawn when you have grown your grass in a place where the subsurface previously encountered a lot of stress. Such as construction. If your lawn began as sod, then you should also consider aeration because the soil layering of sod may adversely affect the circulation of essential oxygen, water, and nutrients through your grass.
If your lawn began as sod, then you should consider purchasing aeration equipment. Another thing to consider is the appropriate time to aerate.
First, you have to establish the type of grass that grows on your lawn, because different types of grass require different times of aeration.
If your lawn consists of warm-season grasses such as Bermuda grass, we recommend aeration in spring. You should carry out the process immediately after the soil has thawed. However, if your lawn has cool-season grasses like Kentucky Bluegrass, it would be wise to conduct aeration during the fall season. Overall, spring and fall seasons are the ideal time to get stuck into this task. We also tell homeowners to consider spreading some grass seeds after the operation, but you have to water the lawn for about two weeks to promote germination of the seeds that you have scattered.
Additionally, lawns that have sandy soils require aeration every 2 to 3 years while lawns that have clay soils or those that encounter heavy foot traffic require you to aerate each year. Compacted lawn soil hinders proper growth of grass, thus resulting in an unhealthy, unattractive lawn. There are still plenty of manual lawn aeration methods that are equally effective. Although manual methods may not be as effective as using a machine, they are still capable of delivering excellent results.
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