I footnote like the previous reply; I am not an "expert", but I have an awesome lawn that I care for myself. With that out of the way, there is really no need to aerate your lawn with proper soil care.

Aerating your lawn is mainly to alleviate soil compaction to allow air, water, and nutrients to penetrate the grass roots. If you have badly compacted soil and still feel you need to aerate, at least do it in the Fall. I know people will debate every opinion, but aerating in the Spring is going to give weeds a better chance to move in. I had a horrible, compacted, clay soil under my lawn when I built my home many years ago. I wasted money and time on the popular 4 step fertilizer brand and even yearly aeration service, only to have the soil re-compact each year.

I finally found the solution and it was what most people ignore. I would not share this with my neighbors because I want them to keep asking me what I do to my lawn, so I can keep saying a little of this and that. You live, not near me, so here you go; it's simple. Feed your soil! Your grass is the benefactor of healthy soil. Get yourself Jonathan Green's "Love Your Lawn, Love Your Soil", it's not expensive. This will change your soil and after a year or two of applications, you shouldn't ever need to aerate anymore. You can put it down now, or even wait until it gets warmer. I use it in Spring and Fall each year. It doesn't affect any fertilizing regime because it is organic. If you are someone who really loves your lawn beyond the aeration question, I highly recommend using Jonathan Green's everything. Your lawn will stand out, I promise that.

I aerated in the Fall the first year I started using this and now I can push my finger into the soil without much resistance. My lawn is beautiful. I am north of you a fre States and for the past two weeks, I already have an emerald green lawn, while the neighborhood lawns are still dormant from Winter. Obviously there is more to caring for the lawn, but I have just addressed the need for aeration. I am also long winded because I love lawn care. Enjoy

I knew "organic" lawn care feeds the worms, but apparently it also causes the owner to lose every ounce of modesty. Must be the fumes from the decomposing corn.

To the OP, aeration is best done in the fall. Spring is a bad time, you will bring up all the weed seeds which will happily germinate. If aeration works for you stick with it.

I knew "organic" lawn care feeds the worms, but apparently it also
causes the owner to lose every ounce of modesty. Must be the fumes from
the decomposing corn.

I still wear a toga when I go dancing through my lawn. I need more corn fumes.

Just say no sir. Just say no. :-)

Aeration should be done when the turf is actively growing (Spring and/or Fall). Specifically, the roots (soil temps 55-65F). Unfortunately, in the Spring, this is the same time that CG can start germinating- but most of the CG seed wont germinate until soil temps reach 70F or so. I believe you stated in another post that your KBG has been slow to come out of dormancy this year, so your soil temp probably aren't up to 55F. Once it is, you can aerate and immediately after apply your pre-m. If you have any poa-T or poa-A, give those areas wide berth with the aerator.

My opinion: If you didn't aerate last Spring and your lawn did well, it could be that your roots are well established and the soil is in decent enough condition. I'd try skipping aeration again this year, follow the recommended mowing, fertilization and watering program and see how it does again this year. At the end of Summer you can re-evaluate and adjust if needed.

lawncrazy,

Have you read the label on that bag?

I'd proffer that the 70% filler is doing more for the lawn than the 30% of active ingredients.

Lisa-Marie: Good news! j4c11 recommends that you continue aerating because you think it is doing something useful. I think he's offering to pay the bill for the aeration. Why would he recommend that you spend your hard-earned money for a band-aid treatment? Must be that he's offering to pay. :o)

In all seriousness, if there is anything you take out of this, it is the idea that aeration is not one of the top, staple, and necessary components of lawn care. It is not up there with sun, water, fertilization and mowing. It is much lower down on the list, and in many cases isn't even on the list.

When it comes to lawn care there will always be endless debate. All the math formulas look impressive. I was having a little fun in my comment because I know my neighbor reads from here and apparently it came off as an organic only post, which is not true. I use fertilizer as well. My point was that people get caught up in thinking that poking holes in the ground is necessary and it's the soil composition that controls everything. And funny, ironic thing about the worms comment. That is your aeration, without the 40-100 dollars per year mechanically poking holes. But yeah, whatever works.

Well, we have a bunch of state universities chock full of agronomists with thousands of years of combined experience recommending core aeration, so I'm going to go with that over some guy on the internet who's hobby is feeding the worms. And I say that lovingly. $80 on core aeration is cheaper than hundreds of pounds of corn. I core aerate, use "chemicals" and manage to maintain a decent lawn despite not having an irrigation system and living in the transition zone, so eating the proof is pudding.

Lawn as of 2 days ago. Corn and alfalfa free.

Thank you ALL! I am going to have to say I believe in Aerating also, j4c11 my lawn looks identical to yours, but is just getting greened up its taking some time this spring the weather here is crazy! where are you located?? and did you aerate this spring? or last fall? Thanks everyone, our soil here in pittsburgh is clay like and I def feel it needs Aeration! Just didn't know if I should wait till fall or do it now.

Lisa, again you will get endless debate on when to aerate. Most general advice is that cool season grasses should be done in the Fall, but I am sure there will be comments that say that many state universities are chock full of agronomists that say to do it in the Spring. The benefits are the same in both seasons, there is just "arguably" an assisted environment for weeds to move in when you mechanically aerate in the Spring in your region. It's probably best to not over think it and do what you feel is right for your yard.

Personally, I wasn't trying to talk you out of aerating, I was just insinuating that most people do not need to and just don't know it. But, whatever works or seems to work, don't deviate from it. I live north of you with the same challenges. As far as the weather, I feel your pain. We had some 50 degree weather for a week, then rain, then freezing rain and snow, now rain again. I can't wait for the real Spring to start because I need to tend to my lawn due to that week of warm weather. However, it came out of the Winter season very well again and is emerald green already.

j4c11 posted a pic and probably isn't in the same ballpark I would think. Unless the trees in your are are already green, they certainly aren't in Michigan. Heck, even the apparent, small red bud tree in the distance of that pic has already flowered. That won't happen for several more weeks (if it ever warms up) and I am only guessing in PA too.

j4c11 your lawn is decent, kudos. Here is a pic from yesterday of my worm pets lol. I feed them, yes, but they in return do my aerating. And yes, I do use organics, but some "chemicals" too. Good luck to you both.

Lisa - there are a lot of misconceptions about soil. I'd be willing to bet almost anything that you have almost no clay in your soil, unless you happen to live near a brick factory. Most people see hard soil and think "clay." I did that too. My jar test showed that I had sandy soil, which shocked me and made me realize that most of my knowledge about soil and lawn care was based on wife's tales and assumptions and whatever Scott's said on TV. Good soil is hard when dry and spongy when wet.

Also, just because there is continuing debate on a topic it doesn't mean that both sides have equal merit. People still debate whether the moon landing is real but that doesn't mean their version has any merit, even if it "works for them."

Take j4c11, for example... perfectly nice guy I'm sure and we've had some fun in this forum. However, (personal opinion here), I believe he is so stuck in his ideas about aeration that he looks for reasons to defend that point rather than base his position on the evidence. He said there are "bajillions" of experts recommending aeration. That is flat out not true! There are studies on aeration, but the vast majority are for crop fields where tractors compress the soil and the results are measured in crop yield. There are other studies on golf courses where they aerate for completely different reasons than a homeowner would do. In fact, if I recall correctly, someone posted an article that suggested that aeration did very little to aerate the soil. I don't have that source on hand, but I do recall the conversation.

I'll finish by saying that if you don't have a soil analysis then it it possible that you are able to counteract some deficiency in your soil by aerating. For instance, if your soil has low organic content and is near sterile, you won't have any worms that would take care of your soil structure. That might be a reason mechanical aeration helps you. That is a total guess, but if you say aerating has improved your lawn, then that's the only reason that comes to mind why the aeration would do anything. It is not expensive to correct most soil problems, and you can save yourself some time and money on unnecessary practices like aeration.

Think about this question (for j4, too): If there are a lot of people who have excellent lawns yet have never aerated, aren't you a little interested as to why?

Edit: I found a good article from last year in this thread:

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/3385444/can-aeration-actually-cause-soil-compaction?n=15

Well, maybe you can call these guys, explain your credentials in the field of agronomy and set them straight:

http://plantscience.psu.edu/research/centers/turf/extension/factsheets/aeration

https://pitt.ces.ncsu.edu/2013/07/aerating-4/

http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/landscape/lawns/hgic1200.html

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/ptlk/1505.html

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/article/yard-and-garden-properly-aerating-lawns

I don't have the time or the will, but I can probably pull one of these from all state university extensions. You know, the ones chock full of agronomists.

By the way, since we're talking about saving time and money, what is the cost of dropping hundreds of pounds of corn a year on your lawn? Because aeration costs $80. How much time and labor does it take to spread said hundreds of pounds of corn on the lawn? Aeration takes about 45 minutes a year.

OK I guess I'm a troll now. Go figure!

So first off the article I linked to (most certainly not read by anybody but maybe Lisa) should take you to the following Ohio State fact sheet (they changed the link):

http://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/SAG-10

Let's try an exercise. I believe some people here are too far gone to look at things logically, but hopefully Lisa or others will have some interest. Let me try to lay out my argument:

First, let's look at the Ohio State University fact sheet referenced above, which I found to be a fascinating read. I think we can all agree that OSU is about as good a credential as you can find on the subject, with this article written by three expert authors. Now the fact sheet above (SAG-10) is actually one of the more technical ones out there and more useful as an actual scientific paper as it give references to other studies for claims made in the paper.

The fact sheet says, and is printed in bold text, "Thus, soil compaction is a biological problem related to decreased
production of polysaccharides and glomalin in the soil. Soil compaction
is due to a lack of living roots and mycorrhizal fungus in the soil." The corollary to this, of course, is that if your soil contains a good quantity of "living roots and mycorrhizal fungus" then you will NOT have a compaction problem.

Second, what j4c11 provided as evidence for aerating is nothing more than an appeal to authority, which basically says, "See, this expert says so and that means I am right!" The problem is when the authority (1) is not necessarily an authority on the subject of home lawn aeration and (2) does not provide any actual evidence to back their claims. For instance, I looked at the background for one of the authors j4 listed above. His background was not in "turf science." His job is to "provide programming to nurseries and greenhouses," whatever that means. I'm sure he is good at his job, but where are his technical reports related to home lawn aeration?

Now let's put the article I provided and the ones j4 provided together. If you read my article first, j4's articles look like a complete joke. You have to read my article to understand why. For one thing, every one of j4's articles say that aeration is necessary to relieve COMPACTION. I think two of the authors talk about how they drive their truck on their lawn. The title of all these articles should be "How to make compacted soil habitable for your lawn." It is not "Why aeration is still necessary for a healthy lawn." If you read my article, you find that a primary cause for compaction is lack of organic matter and excess oxygen introduced into the soil from tilling (admittedly more aggressive than aeration cores, but the same principle).

Another oddity: One of the articles has a section on home lawns and another on sports fields. If you look at each they both link to a discussion of aeration. Amazingly, they link to the same exact aeration discussion! In other words, they do not distinguish between athletic fields and home lawns. Do they really believe a home lawn is going to be compacted like a sports field might? Sloppy work.

So, yes, this anonymous chemical engineer who has read many research papers actually has a problem with the fluff papers thrown at me by j4c11. I repeat my request: Just find one scientific research paper that analyzes home lawns and shows why aeration is necessary. Just...one. "Trust me because I'm an expert on greenhouses" does not qualify.

j4c11 is also under the misapprehension that I am spending hundreds of dollars on corn meal and other crap to "feed the worms." Corn meal can be applied in the spring to ward off problems like Lisa's summer spot. It is well documented to work even by people in this forum. Only a small amount need be applied in the spring, if you want. Other than that, three apps of milorganite per year, mulch grass clippings and fall leaves, then winterize is all you need. If your organic levels are low, then you can add extra organics like alfalfa and the like, but once you have a maintenance level of organics established, it's easy from there. If you are creative you can find many organics for little cost, or even for free.

So if you want a lawn with poor or borderline quality soil that encourages compaction as discussed above, maybe aeration can save it each year. I choose to cultivate a healthy soil environment so that band aid cures are not necessary. I guess around here that makes me a troll!

So in your previous post you said: "There are studies on aeration, but the vast majority are for crop fields where tractors compress the soil and the results are measured in crop yield.". I guess you dismiss those because they're not for home lawns. You then continue to dismiss all other articles because their authors are not "lawn specialists", just agronomists. But then why are you posting that Ohio State article which is clearly geared towards crop fields? Are any of those people specialists in home lawns? Seems like you have a set of stringent requirements for articles which do not support your position that somehow do not apply to articles which you agree with. The fact is, for people like you no evidence contrary to what you believe is enough, and no evidence for what you believe is necessary. It's called special pleading or, more plainly put, hypocrisy.

No, I dismiss those because there is NO information contained in them other than "aerate your lawn to combat compaction." If you read the OSU article I posted, you'll see that your lawn will not compact if the soil is healthy. So then where does that leave you? The sole reason for aerating, according to these articles, was to combat compaction. The OSU article is perfectly applicable to a home lawn, I believe, because soil structure and what make a good soil vs. a bad soil shouldn't be much different. Yes, it would be better if they said this information applies equally well to home lawns as to crops, but we don't have that kind of study available (that I know of). Nobody does studies on your neighbor's lawn because who is going to fund it? I even said above, to be fair, that tilling is more aggressive than aerating, but it is the same idea - introducing extra oxygen and why that is harmful for a healthy lawn.

Look, I have no bias either way. If the OSU guys did a follow up study and showed why fall aeration would benefit a healthy lawn, then I'd be all for it. I'm not for doing things just because I feel like it is going to help my "clay" soil. Too many people make money off mechanical aeration and so there is a whole industry built behind the myth.

In all seriousness, you are a serious lawn guy and it surprises me that you can look at information like I've provided and shrug your shoulders like there's nothing to see here. I looked back at previous discussions like this from last year and they are all identical. You continue to ignore the same question I've been asking: There are many beautiful, healthy lawns out there that have NEVER been aerated. This inconvenient truth is a fly in the ointment to the orthodoxy that yearly mechanical core aeration is necessary. Aren't you even a little curious as to why some people don't have to aerate?

Every. Single. Time. Live & let live guys, we're all worm food in the end!

No, I don't believe the article you posted is "perfectly applicable to a home lawn". In home lawns we are dealing with compaction at the surface (top 1/2") , not deep compaction as experienced in an agricultural situation. Surface compaction is caused by rain, gravity, foot traffic and wheel traffic (e.g. riding lawn mowers). I do not believe the article you posted addresses this particular type of soil compaction at the surface. For example , it talks about roots alleviating compaction, but there's little grass roots in the top half inch, or at least I would hope so. As you mentioned, core aeration is targeted specifically at surface compaction which it alleviates.

The fact some people get by without aeration is irrelevant, everyone's situation and soil type is different. Also, just because your lawn is green, it doesn't mean that it wouldn't benefit from relief from surface compaction. Just because some people change their oil and filter in their car once a year and it still runs, doesn't mean your car wouldn't benefit from regular oil changes.

You were warned j4c11. Despite claims of trolls to special skills attendant to superior training-chemical engineers, etc., the lack of critical thinking, analysis, and the resulting conclusions based on false logic (a common trait of trolls as is the incessant need to prod argument for the sole purpose of arguing) make engagement with trolls nothing but pointless.

BTW, here is a link to the troll's original article. Interesting that they have edited out the ridiculous "building a house" analogy.

"Active carbon (plant sugars or polysaccharides, glomalin) is consumed by microbes for energy." Somewhat of a large exaggeration, probably intended to bolster their argument, but a sure sign in critical reading to question all of the author's statements.

j4c11 I guess it is too much to ask for actual data to support claims like "rain causes compaction on a healthy lawn"... yeah, right. Listen, obviously your mind is made up and nothing new will change that. I realized that the moment you said it is an irrelevant fact that some people do not need to aerate. Amazing. How do you know Lisa-Marie needs to aerate? You just told here to do it if it "works for her." Great advice. Shouldn't you have asked here some questions about her soil (soil test) before advising her to blow time and money on aerating? Oh and I'd love to know what you mean by "everyone's situation and soil type is different." I bet your explanation would be a real hoot. On the other hand I guess it is progress that you don't think everybody needs to aerate.

She still thinks she has clay soil and did you suggest that probably isn't true? No, you don't really care if she thinks that or not. When people come here for advice I give them advice if I think I can help. I don't let them carry on with their misconceptions. I'm glad a few people cared enough to treat me the same when I first came here.

Yardtractor1 proved himself to be a fool last year so I don't respond to him. If there were an ignore feature in this forum I'd use it. You have a major blind spot in your thinking but at least you have interesting things to say from time to time.

j4c11 I guess it is too much to ask for actual data to support claims like "rain causes compaction on a healthy lawn"... yeah, right.

As a matter of fact, the article you posted which you claimed was highly relevant and written by reputable people states:

"In a loamy sand, Busscher et al. (2002) found that soil compaction increased with time, and cumulative rainfall accounted for 70 to 90 percent of the re-compaction due to water filtering through the soil and the force of gravity."

" At best, tillage may temporarily reduce soil compaction but rain, gravity, and equipment traffic compact the soil."

There are other supporting sources for that claim. I will list one for your amusement:

http://www.extension.umn.edu/agriculture/tillage/soil-compaction/#causes

Does it rain where Lisa-Marie lives? I bet it does. Does mass bend spacetime where Lisa-Marie lives? I bet it does. Does Lisa-Marie mow regularly and walkes/drives all over her lawn? I bet she does. Well, if all those things cause surface compaction, and they happen to Lisa-Marie's lawn on a regular basis, then chances are high Lisa-Marie would benefit from alleviating said surface compaction through core aeration.

qed

j4, respectfully, you are in such a rush to be right (rather than learn something new) that you are missing the point of the article. You are cherry picking sentences out of context. When they talk about rain causing compaction they are talking about crop fields with little to no ground cover, and on fields that have been tilled over. Read the article again. The entire point of this article is to show how tilling the soil and reducing organic matter results in increased compaction, particularly when combined with heavy equipment. The way to reverse this is to have a living cover (no till) as much as possible. Here's just one such quote near the summary section: "Soil compaction has a biological component and the root cause of soil
compaction is a lack of actively growing plants and active roots in the
soil. A continuous living cover [like grass!] plus long-term continuous no-till reduce
soil compaction in five ways."

So, to be clear, they are saying that bare ground can be compacted by rain drops and that soil with living ground cover (like a thick mat of KBG) that is not overly aerated prevents this compaction. OK? Can you see the difference between a rain drop hitting bare ground vs hitting 4" of KBG carpet?

Wow, I didn't mean to start a huge debate :/ Yikes. I have been Aerating since we had this lawn sodded back in 2008, just didn't know if I should wait till fall or now, the weather is so up and down, and I have a tiny bit of Poa A in a few patches in the lawn but its just greening up real nice finally but still cold, again...I didn't know this was a sore subject, I am sorry for mentioning it :x Thank you all who responded.

lisa-marie,

You didn't start this debate. It's been going on for at least 10 years (here and other forums), and I suspect much longer--long before they split the forums at GW into Lawn care and organic lawn care. No need to be sorry. I'm glad you brought it up and I hope others will not be discouraged from inquiring about it. Those of us who know the uses and benefits of mechanical aeration aren't going to allow the trolls to control what best practice advice is given here.

Please let us know how your lawn does this season.

Edit: and yes, someone can turn off the cold weather switch anytime now. They're forecasting lows in the 20s this weekend.

Lisa, yard tractor is misleading you. The forums were already split into organic and non-organic lawn care a long time ago. I am not an organic lawn care nut. I am interested in how a lawn grows and what makes it healthy. Sometimes organic solutions are a better choice and other times inorganic are better. If you have any interest in this topic at all you might find that Ohio State article I posted to be very interesting. I would say that if you choose to maintain a low organic percentage in your soil then you may have no choice but to aerate. However without a soil test you will never really know.. Good luck!

So, to be clear, they are saying that bare ground can be compacted by rain drops and that soil with living ground cover (like a thick mat of KBG) that is not overly aerated prevents this compaction.

I think maybe there's a reading comprehension issue. The article states:

"A continuous living cover plus long-term continuous no-till reduce soil compaction in five ways."

But we're making progress, previous post you were scoffing at the claim that rain causes compaction. Now you embrace it. We're headed in the right direction.

So far we know :

1. Soil compaction occurs due to rain, gravity and traffic. All these compaction factors occur on all lawns.
2. Ground covers reduce soil compaction versus bare ground. By how much it doesn't say, 10%, 20%, 40%, no clue. But if it was 100%, they would have used the words "prevents" or "eliminates". Thus, an amount of soil compaction still takes place.
3. Compaction is detrimental to the overall health plants.
4. Core aeration helps alleviate compaction.

From all these facts we can draw the conclusion that since compaction occurs on all lawns - albeit at a reduced rate vs bare ground - and core aeration helps alleviate the detrimental effects of compaction, then core aeration is a practice that benefits the lawn.

Thanks ;) I will let you all know how it goes, its going slow thus far lol this weather is for the birds and yardtractor1 yes its going to be 18 saturday morning :x yikes..I cover my japanese maple its just starting to bloom ...it's so annoying, Thanks again ;)

I lost 18 tomato plants last night because of the freeze. They were covered too. That will teach me not to plant on March.

j4 are you actually reading this article, or are you simply reading what I wrote and then looking for specific sentences to counter my comment?

j4c11 quotes in italics:

1. Soil compaction occurs due to rain, gravity and traffic. All these compaction factors occur on all lawns.

The are talking about heavy rain and heavy commercial equipment impacting bare fields with no growing plants in it that has just been tilled over. Any discussion about a lawn in this context is a fantasy and directly contradicts what this article says.

2. Ground covers reduce soil compaction versus bare ground. By
how much it doesn't say, 10%, 20%, 40%, no clue. But if it was 100%,
they would have used the words "prevents" or "eliminates". Thus, an amount of soil compaction still takes place.

The article states that the compaction problem on crop fields is two-fold. On the one hand, compaction is caused on tilled bare fields due to heavy equipment, heavy rain and heavy foot traffic (like a state fair I'd say). The other component is the organic content of the soil, ground cover and whether the soil is left to be (no till) or is tilled over. In your quote above they say reduce because crop fields will always have heavy traffic as a fact of life, so good ground biology will counteract this factor. It's kind of hard to say whether this will keep a combine from compacting the earth. How many combines do you have on your lawn? The point is that a homeowner does not have the compaction pressures that a crop field does, not even a rider mower. Morpheus had construction done and the trucks left a deep rut in his lawn. He left it alone and sure enough it eventually sprang back to normal. The article even says:

Surface organic residues have the ability to be compressed but they also
retain their shape and structure once the traffic has passed. Like a
sponge, the organic matter is compressed and then springs back to its
normal shape. However, excessive traffic will break up organic residues,
and tillage accelerates the decomposition of organic matter. Organic
residues in the soil profile may be even more important than surface
organic residues. Organic matter (plant debris and residues) attached to
soil particles (especially clay particles) keeps soil particles from
compacting.

So when you say, "But if it was 100%,
they would have used the words "prevents" or "eliminates". Thus, an amount of soil compaction still takes place." you are wrong again. They said organic matter keeps soil particles from compacting (and your kids or your dog aren't enough to compact a healthy soil). This is why I don't think you are reading this article, or at least not comprehending it.

4. Core aeration helps alleviate compaction.

Care to provide a study that proves this?

From all these facts we can draw the conclusion that since compaction occurs on all lawns - albeit at a reduced
rate vs bare ground - and core aeration helps alleviate the
detrimental effects of compaction, then core aeration is a practice that
benefits the lawn.

Clearly you aren't paying attention. I'm tired of explaining a simple technical paper to you. Let's part friends and just say you are right about everything and I am totally wrong and anybody who comes to this forum should aerate their soil every year because the guy who invested in a mechanical aerator says you need to do it. If that makes you feel better then I did my good deed for the day.

"Organic matter (plant debris and residues) attached to soil particles (especially clay particles) keeps soil particles from compacting"

And how are you coming up with the idea that the average lawn has sufficient evenly distributed organic matter for every soil particle to be attached to a particle of organic matter and not compact?

The average lawn may well be deficient in any number of things, including organic matter. Most people don't know how to care for their lawn/soil. I already said if your soil is sick and unable to regulate oxygen itself maybe aerating once a year can keep it alive, but that is just a band aid.

If you can admit you've misrepresented the article in almost every statement you've made so far, then maybe we can continue. Otherwise I've spent enough time on this, thank you.,

Well, you started out by saying:

"There are studies on aeration, but the vast majority are for crop fields where tractors compress the soil and the results are measured in crop yield."

So you dismissed all core aeration studies that are for crop fields as irrelevant, then came along with your own crop field study that's relevant , because you say so.

Highly hypocritical, but I'll ago along . Then you say:

"The are talking about heavy rain and heavy commercial equipment impacting bare fields with no growing plants in it that has just been tilled over. Any discussion about a lawn in this context is a fantasy."

So the whole topic of the study - soil compaction (that's the title) is a fantasy in the context of lawn care, per you. Except a few phrases which suit your position and are relevant to lawn care, because you say so.

Again, highly hypocritical, but I'll go along with that as well. Then you present the basis of your argument that an organically fed lawn does not compact and therefor does not require core aeration:

"Organic matter (plant debris and residues) attached to soil particles (especially clay particles) keeps soil particles from compacting."

Fine. Now I'm asking you two simple questions that hopefully you can answer without deflections, just straight to the point:

1. In an average well maintained organic lawn, with no deficiencies, what is the average percentage of organic matter?
2. Is this level of organic matter sufficient to get in between all soil particles and prevent all soil particles from compacting and if so, what do you base that assertion on?

So you dismissed all core aeration studies that are for crop fields as
irrelevant, then came along with your own crop field study that's
relevant , because you say so.

Show me a study on core aeration for crop fields. Tilling is not core aerating. I didn't present that OSU article for a discussion about aeration. In fact the one weakness is that it isn't specifically geared toward home lawns, so we have to make some assumptions. I'm the one saying it is hard to find any real scientific studies for a "home lawn." My interest in this article is more in the soil biology that explains why a biologically healthy soil probably doesn't require aeration. I guess this seems hypocritical to some people. Not sure why.

As to your next point, yes, I say the soil biology presented in this article is completely applicable to a home lawn. Explain why it isn't.
1. In an average well maintained organic lawn, with no deficiencies, what is the average percentage of organic matter?

When you say "organic" lawn I assume you mean any lawn, even yours, that has enough organic matter mulched in each year to maintain a healthy level of organics. I'm not an expert on what the exact organic level should be, but the number depends on the type of soil. Sandy soils will be hard pressed to get very high levels, while heavier soils can exhibit much higher numbers. I think morpheus' lawn is around 15%. Morpheus says 3 or 4% is borderline low, 5 or 6% is good and anything near 8% is excellent.

2. Is this level of organic matter sufficient to get in between all soil
particles and prevent all soil particles from compacting and if so, what
do you base that assertion on?

I understand what you are getting at with these two questions, but again, you'vegotten something into your head that has no basis. You seem to think 100% of the particles must be linked to an organic particle in order for the soil not to need aeration. Nobody but you is asserting that. The article clearly shows the relationship between roots, bacteria, fungi, bugs and worms and all the other things that form macroaggregates. If you have lots of these macroaggregates around the root level, which is what naturally regulates oxygen, then you probably don't need mechanical aeration.

Listen, the way science works is that you have to go on a hypothesis that may or may not be proven out over time. Eventually it becomes an accepted "law" or fact if it holds up. I've come to believe that this and other online forums are like laboratories where everybody contributes their experiences with their own lawn. Lawn companies and even universities have biases. Ask dchall about all this. He has been here the whole time and has seen a lot of what works and what doesn't. My position is that I am not going to do something to my lawn unless I have evidence that it does good. Otherwise you can do more harm than good. From the evidence I've seen in this forum, from doing other online research, and just observing problems different people come into this forum with, my conclusion is that there is no need to aerate if you are doing everything else properly. The nice lady, Lisa, started this discussion by saying she had summer fungus caused by over fertilizing ("live and learn"). She cut back on the fertilizer and started aerating. I think she is attributing the lack of fungus to the reduced fertilizer and the aerating. My reaction would be to get a Logan labs test and see if there are any soil problems, and then decide whether aerating is really doing anything. Again, if she has good soil biology and plenty of us never aerate, then why should she have to?

I think too many people see lawn companies aerating and just assume it is a good thing to do. The article I presented from OSU suggests the increased oxygen can actually do harm. Scott's recommends you weed and feed in April. Do you think that is a good idea, too?

You seem to think 100% of the particles must be linked to an organic particle in order for the soil not to need aeration. Nobody but you is asserting that.

No, actually that is not what I'm asserting at all. You keep moving the goal post. In your previous post, you said I was wrong in saying that organic matter does not prevent 100% of compaction from taking place:

So when you say, "But if it was 100%, they would have used the words "prevents" or "eliminates". Thus, an amount of soil compaction still takes place." you are wrong again. They said organic matter keeps soil particles from compacting.

Since you now admit that 100% of the soil particles cannot be linked to particles of organic matter because we only have 5%-8% organic matter, therefore 100% of the soil particles cannot be prevented from compacting.

The logical conclusion then is that even a lawn with levels of organic matter on the high side cannot prevent compaction from taking place, only reduce the amount of compaction.

The article clearly shows the relationship between roots, bacteria, fungi, bugs and worms and all the other things that form macroaggregates. If you have lots of these macroaggregates around the root level, which is what naturally regulates oxygen, then you probably don't need mechanical aeration.

Great, so now we're on the same page, organic matter alone does not prevent compaction, you're throwing all this other stuff in. But we're talking compaction in the top half inch. In a healthy lawn that's properly watered ( deep and infrequent) there's little to no roots there. Further more, this surface layer is constantly going through dry/wet cycles which cause crusting.

How would you propose to address this surface compaction that the organic matter does not fully prevent and roots and macroaggregates do not help reduce at that level? This is what most universities recommend core aeration for, to break up surface compaction.

j4 now you're just being silly. You are trying to construct an argument to trap me into saying something inconsistent like, "Oh somebody said 100% of soil particles have to be linked to an organic particle and if only 10% of the soil is organic then that means the soil has to be compacting at least a little and that means you're wrong and people should aerate, so there!" What you are doing is call sophistry, and it isn't a convincing or attractive debate technique. Look it up.

Unless you have something constructive to add, I'm OUT.