Aerating your Lawn - worth doing ?

[scooter]

ok - you reckon I could find those spiked shoes ???? Impossible. Bunnings reckons they were a safety hazard (what to beetles?) and they don't sell them anymore. I rang countless places and received a rather confused person at the other end of the phone. So I bit the bullet and simply bought an old-fashioned garden fork !!! Although it's back-breaking work I reckon it's worth it....create the holes then put wetta agent on the lawn, then watered it hard....I'll let people know the results as my lawn has brown patches/dead patches which I'm sure plenty of people have.

They were sold out here on clearance a couple of years ago. Were never much of a seller. The spikes were lethal looking things, wouldn't want the kids playing with them !


Cheers...................Sean

[rhancock]

Lethal looking, maybe, but not all that sharp or pointy, really. Most of my screwdrivers are more dangerous. Of course if you stood on the cat while you're wearing them, you'd do some damage, so maybe they should have a warning on them: "Do not stand on pets while wearing spiky shoes"

If I see some, I'll buy you a pair! Actually I saw some in an op shop recently.

[Geoff Dean]

I had a pair that I have just thrown out...I found them fairly useless.

They didn't stay on no matter what I tried and I found that I was getting stuck in the ground when I walked and would then try to either pull of my feet or trip me up.

I ended up hiring a lawn aerator for a half day and found this to be a far better option.

[rhancock]

I sympathise! I bought mine 3 years ago, and using them with the straps supplied was hopeless. Graham Ross had a pair on Better homes and gardens last week, and his fell off straight away!

So I've screwed mine to an old pair of sandals and they're just about usuable. I also found spraying them with lubricant helped too. Also try walk on a wet lawn, unless you've got heavy clay. In which case you will need more than a $ 30 pair of spikes!

The aerators you hire are certainly the best option if you can justify the cost. Kennards hire have one for $34 for 4 hours, so once a year its not too bad.

Or you could buy this one.

And if you really want the spikes, here they are.

[rhancock]

or you could buy an ex hire one like this.

But if I were buying one (which I might, next time I have to lay a lawn), I'd buy this one. Here's the manufacturers page.

[Sir Stinkalot]

I think it would be fair to say that the spiked shoes were useless as sold off the shelf. After about 5 minutes I gave up on the straps and bolted the bases onto a pair of old Doc Martins (now very expensive aerating shoes).

The first pair that I bought from B were impossible to get the spikes installed with the nylon nuts that they provided. I snapped a number of the spikes as it was impossible to get them to tighten. In the end I gave up and purchased regular nuts which seem to have worked .....

Looking back now it would appear that I have needed to replace much of the original purchase to make it fit for purpose ..... no wonder they don't sell them any more.

[Speed80]

I airate my lawn every year as i live at the base of teh hills and I have a small amount of clay in my soil. I hire a petrol powered airator from Kenards for around $80.

Once airated I use wetting agent and I find I use less water and fertiliser throughout the year.

All the best....

[TomDunreedy]

ha ha...amusing replies.
Thanks for the eBay link - what are these things? Collectors Items ??? They do look deadly and i do have a cat so I'll make sure i wear them when the cat is outside with me
Yeah saw the Kennards hire price which i thought was reasonable but I'm thinking long term and I'd probably aerate the lawn twice a year for life so I went the fork option. I completed it tonight (75 sqm lawn) and I'm quite sore!! But for twice a year it's not life-threatening...

I did see a aerator roller on eBay for $150...so that might be a good buy!
Still reckon the collector item sandals is the go (moreso as a fashion statement)...and I'll take the tip in screwing them to shoes...and mowing your lawn in them!
Thanks for all the responses - much help.....lets just hope i didn't spike my irrigation!!!

[rhancock]

Good luck! and don't run in the spikes on concrete, its like ice skating!

[TomDunreedy]

Attachment 66821Hi all - thought I'd revisit this thread after an amazing dicovery...
Anyone get those Home Care magazines that get dropped off at your doorstep enticing you to buy some gadget (handy but unneccessary)..?
Well here in Perth it happens.
Anyway, today one was dropped off and you wouldn't believe what I saw in their catalogue.....

[Arry]

Attachment 66821Hi all - thought I'd revisit this thread after an amazing dicovery...
Anyone get those Home Care magazines that get dropped off at your doorstep enticing you to buy some gadget (handy but unneccessary)..?
Well here in Perth it happens.
Anyway, today one was dropped off and you wouldn't believe what I saw in their catalogue.....

I have seen them there before.

One important question I have for you.
Did you build a house recently?
If you did, there could be lots of concrete and rock under your lawn. My sister-in-laws lawn was great except for a few spots, no matter what they did.

I suggested using a fork to spike in the lawn.

Incredibly they discovered entire internal house bricks under the surface. No wonder why it wouldn't grow. It is now starting to come back well.

[rhancock]

The Scout Group I attended in the UK had a large lawn in front of the building, which was laid over the top of the brick paving for the nursery it was built on. Grass grew very well with only a couple of inches of soil.

However builders rubble can contain all sorts of cr#p which will impact on your lawn, but mostly what it'll do is improve the drainage at that point so that the water will drain too fast. As usual the best solution is to build healthy soil before you lay the lawn so that it has more organic matter to hold water. If you're repairing patches, probably the only thing you can do is remove soil under the turf, and replace with very rich compost, possibly even with some peat mixed in to hold the water.