Core Aeration & Powerseeding/Slitseeding

Are you looking to thicken up your lawn? Do you have thin or bare spots? Is your lawn compacted and rock solid? Then it's time to Core Aerate and Overseed!

Core Aeration helps to loosen compacted clay soils by opening up the ground, extracting plugs of soil and re- depositing them onto the surface. This reduces surface tension and allows nutrients and moisture to penetrate into the soil. This process also allows roots to grow more freely and stronger than they could before, allowing for better growth of existing and new grass, helping to ensure the absolute best lawn possible. And with front yard specials starting at $99, we have the best prices in town!

A slit seeder (also known as a power seeder) distributes the seed onto the lawn while brushing it down into groves cut into the soil by a set of steel blades that perform a process referred to as “vertical mowing” This process also adds the benefits of dethatching in lawns that are burdened with an abundance of it.

So which process is best for you? Well that depends on several factors.

Grass seeds need direct contact with a good growing medium (the soil), as well as sufficient moisture in order to germinate. But this is only the beginning—once the seeds germinate, the plant roots need continued feeding from the soil nutrients and other supplements in order to thrive. Ongoing moisture delivered to the growing root zone is also necessary.

Many people think the purpose of the aerator is to simply poke holes into the surface of the ground over which you will then broadcast grass seeds. The seeds, they assume, will fall into the holes and later emerge as grass plants, sort of like digging a hole and inserting a bean seed into it in order to grow a bean plant. With lawns, this is not exactly how it works.

Running over your lawn with an aerator actually serves multiple purposes. The most obvious ones are to help alleviate compaction of the soil, to allow moisture (either from rainfall or from irrigation sources) to better enter the soil, and to allow fertilizers and other plant supplements such as lime to better infiltrate and mix with the soil, and to feed the grass roots at a deeper level in order to encourage stronger and deeper development of the root system.

Another purpose of aeration is to allow air to enter the soil to help carry out proper workings of bacteria that help break down organic matter on and in the soil. In this way, the grass clippings and the dead and dying grass plants or weeds and their roots will decompose and turn to humus which will actually feed the roots of the healthy lawn grasses. A sufficient amount of air is also necessary in order for the minerals in the soil to be transformed into forms that are usable by the grass plants.

A slit-seeder slits the soil and drops seeds into the slits it makes! The machine has a series of rotating knives that operate in the same fashion as a reel-type lawnmower. The hardness of the soil, usually related to the moisture content, is a factor in how deeply the knives will cut. A small hopper mounted on the machine is filled with grass seed that is dispersed onto the soil at a rate that is determined and adjusted by the machine’s user.

If you have a pretty good thick stand of desirable lawn grass already growing, use the aerator and follow up with a good program of lawn fertilizers. As your lawn continues to thrive, aerate every year in the fall.

If your lawn is very spotty, with some areas of desirable grass growing but many areas of thin or no grass, then use the slit-seeder. If your spotty lawn is also compacted like most lawn in Hampton roads then you may want to slit seed in the fall and follow with thorough core aeration in the spring to ensure better survival of your newly established lawn and protection of your investment. Let one of our companies owners come out and personally give your lawn a free evaluation and determine which of these services is right for your lawn and give you a free-no obligation quote and lawn analysis!

So what about Grass Seed?
We use the finest material money can buy to seed your lawn to help attain maximum germination. We use 100% turf- type tall fescue, a premium seed with a 0.0% weed content, and a 90% germination rate; absolutely the best that money can buy. Compare that to other name brands highly recommended in the area and you'll find that there is nothing better for sale anywhere, period. We also apply your seed at higher than the manufacturer’s recommended rate to ensure that you get plenty of seed and the best possible results. A starter fertilizer is apply at the same time to ensure the strongest, most efficient root growth of your new grass and best preparation for the season ahead.

We replace the tines on our core aerators every season so you can be assured of getting thorough core aeration with nice large plugs instead of tiny caused by worn aerator tines! Check out our page on our annual Synergy™ Turf Care program to find out how we can help you achieve the maximum result possible for the most beautiful lawn in your neighborhood.

Many of our customer ask us the same question. “Will the grass seed grow?” The answer to that is very simple. If you water it every day, it will grow. To demonstrate this, we placed grass seed on top of three different materials in 4 glass containers. We placed grass seed on top of gravel in one, play sand in another and 2 containers contained fresh top soil. One container of top soil we watered every three days, all the others we watered every day without fail. All three that were watered every day grew perfectly, including the seed placed on the rock and sand. The one watered every three days in the soil didn’t grow at all. We have placed photos here for you to see the results.

Slow release fertilizers- A huge amount of advertisement is out there in reference to the harmful effects of fertilizer running off into our waterways, destroying our fish and crab populations. Improper use of fertilizer can lead to these problems. Overapplication of immediate release fertilizers do not allow for proper absorption into the soil, causing run-off. We only use slow release fertilizers and apply them properly, making them completely safe and environmentally friendly.

Core aeration annually helps to reduce surface tension and allows proper air, water and nutrient exchange into the soil, reducing the need for fertilizer, and making much more effective use of available water, allowing a much higher retention of it in your soil. It also helps with the proper decomposition of recycled grass clippings