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A beautiful well-groomed lawn always pleases any person. However, the grass on the site will not look perfect if it is simply mowed. A lawn aerator helps to achieve good results, allowing you to turn any overgrown area into an ideal green area.
What is an aerator and how does it differ from a scarifier
For lawn care, an aerator and a scarifier are used. The second tool is also called a verticutter. Now let’s try to figure out what their difference is.
An aerator is a kind of comb for grass. In other words, the tool can be called a rake, only with special teeth. While combing the grass, they cut into the soil, leaving small grooves. Through these slots, the access of oxygen and moisture to the soil increases. The root system of plants begins to develop better and the grass on the lawn takes on a healthy look. With the help of an aerator, all debris is removed from the lawn, grass is thinned out, and large weeds are removed.
Verticutter or scarifier performs almost the same job as the aerator. The tool loosens the soil, collects small debris, cut grass, moss. The function is almost the same, only the verticutter is more powerful.
When choosing between two tools, the aerator should be preferred if the lawn soil is very soft. On heavily compacted soil, it is better to use a scarifier. Many modern models are made using 2 in 1 technology. It is convenient to buy one tool that includes an aerator and a scarifier. Such a combined device is able to work on any type of soil.
For example, let’s take a common household tool. The working part of the fork is represented by durable long knitting needles. This is the simplest aerator. Now let’s look at the rake. For some models of the tool, the teeth are made with triangular wedges. Such a rake is a simple manual scarifier.
In the combined models of the lawn scarifier aerator, there are 2 replaceable shafts. A scarifier is needed – they put a shaft with cutters, an aerator is required – they replace the working mechanism with a shaft with knitting needles.
We get acquainted with the varieties of aerators scarifiers
With the increasing demand for lawn care tools, manufacturers have developed many models of scarifier aerators. All of them differ in size, shape, are designed to perform different amounts of work, but according to the type of use, they are mechanical and with a motor.
Mechanical Models
A mechanical scarifier is often called a manual aerator. The use of the tool is justified for caring for a small home lawn up to 2 acres. The advantage of the tool in low cost, silent operation, light weight. But, most importantly, a mechanical aerator does not require electricity or gasoline to operate, which in addition saves money.
The only significant drawback of a mechanical scarifier aerator is rapid fatigue from its use. To carefully process the lawn will have to make a lot of physical strength. The poor performance of the tool does not allow it to be used on large areas.
The most productive mechanical scarifiers are models made in the form of a small cart with wheels. While moving it along the lawn, along with the wheels, the shaft with knives begins to rotate, making punctures and cutting small grooves in the ground. The size of the tool can be very different. The wider the shaft, the more lawn area can be processed in 1 pass.
Among the mechanical aerators of scarifiers, a separate group of primitive tools for hand and foot use is distinguished:
- A hand tool is represented by a rake, but not all. Rake-aerators are characterized by thin teeth. There are models with triangular teeth, with each cutting element curved in the shape of a knife. Such a rake can be attributed to the scarifier.
- The foot aerator is the simplest version of a hole punch. Two metal spikes are attached to the sole of the shoe. Trampling on the lawn, a person pierces the ground with spikes.
Working with mechanical scarifiers is not easy, but buying expensive electric or gas models for a small area is unwise.
Models powered by electricity
The electric unit looks like an ordinary lawn mower. Such an aerator scarifier is used for lawn care with an area of up to 15 acres.
It makes more sense to compare an electric model with a gasoline counterpart. The advantage of the unit lies in the lower noise level during operation, efficiency, reasonable cost of the product, and less weight.
The main disadvantage of electric scarifier aerators is that they are connected to the mains, low power of the electric motor, and shallow depth of soil cultivation.
A battery-powered car is mobile. It is enough to charge the battery, and you can go to work on a lawn located far from home. However, battery models also have their drawbacks. The main one is limited time. A secondary drawback is the high cost relative to an aerator powered by an outlet.
Petrol models
Gasoline models are considered the most productive among scarifier aerators. In terms of power, gasoline units greatly outperform electric counterparts. They are characterized by a greater depth of penetration of the teeth into the ground. The machine is capable of processing lawns with an area of more than 15 acres. A gasoline scarifier is about 4 times more expensive than an electric counterpart. In any case, buying it for the house is impractical. Such models are intended for service enterprises.
Criteria for choosing a scarifier aerator
It is not possible to select aggregates only by their type. There are a lot of design features and nuances that you should pay attention to:
- In electric and petrol aerators engine power plays a huge role in performance. It depends on the motor resource how much the unit is able to process the territory without rest.
- The speed of aeration depends on the width of the working mechanism. The more the machine captures the lawn strip, the fewer passes will have to be made, and, consequently, the processing time will be reduced.
- The plastic body of the machine is lightweight, does not rust, but with accidental impacts it can burst. Metal cases significantly increase the mass of the unit and are susceptible to corrosion, however, in terms of mechanical strength, they outperform plastic.
- Aerators scarifiers can be with or without a grass catcher. Here it is necessary to be guided by the volume and convenience of work.
- By the type of knives, models can only be scarifiers, aerators or combined 2 in 1. It is more efficient, of course, to spend money on a combined unit.
That’s all the main nuances that require attention when choosing a machine for lawn care.
When to scarify and aerate
The right time to scarify your lawn is mid-spring, around the beginning of April. It is allowed to perform this procedure in late autumn. After scarification, bare areas of soil without vegetation may remain on the lawn. This does not mean that the scarifier is to blame. It’s just that in these places the grass could disappear due to the accumulation of water or the soil was torn up by cats or dogs. This problem is solved by additional sowing of bare soil.
The best time for aeration is mid-May or the first decade of September. The need for aeration is determined by the roots of lawn grass. To do this, cut a piece of sod with a knife and measure the depth of penetration of the roots into the soil with a ruler. If this figure is less than 50 mm, the lawn requires aeration. The choice of aeration time also depends on the type of grass. Some grow in spring and others in autumn. Aeration is necessary only during intensive plant growth.
As for working with the tool itself, you will first need to examine the lawn for the presence of stones and other solid objects. They can break or deform knives. If the machine is equipped with a grass catcher after about 5 minutes, do not forget to clean it. For the convenience of collecting grass, use a garden cart. The contents of the grass collector are shaken out into it.
The video shows the aeration of the lawn:
Conclusion
As a result, it should be noted that the use of a scarifier aerator will not immediately improve the condition of a neglected lawn. Other additional measures related to mowing, fertilizing and watering the grass will be required. However, the very process of aeration and scarification will improve vegetation growth.