Aerating your lawn every Spring can give you a great looking, healthy lawn all year long.

Aerating or adding air to your lawn can make sure that the fertilizer or any other top dressing that you add to your lawn is doing the most good by making sure the grass root system is getting the nutrients it needs. A good strong, healthy lawn is much more resistant to weed infestation and without chemicals. So make sure you're aerating your lawn each spring to get a beautiful looking yard.

Aerating is the process of removing 1/2” diameter plugs of soil and grass from your turf every few inches. It sort of looks like giant goose poops all over your grass when you finish but it does a world of good unlike the goose poop.

Aerating is most productive in the spring, when the grass comes back to life and you are fertilizing. This gives your lawn a better chance at keeping lawn weeds at bay and may help with thatch buildup as well.

Your lawn will quickly absorb what it needs and fill in those small holes with fresh grass and the plugs will soon break down and put more nutrients back into the soil, much like fallen leaves in the fall.

Aerating is a service almost all landscaping companies offer. In fact, this is a service heavily promoted by landscapers as it improves the health of the lawn and the grass grows better which means they get more business.

You can rent an aerator from your local home improvement store or tool rental shop and do it yourself, just be aware that it's harder to do than it looks.
It has the look of a lawn roller or roto-tiller but with tubular spikes on the roller to pull the plugs out of the grass.
It's a job you can do and the results are well worth the small rental fee.

There are also strap on shoes that you can buy and as long as you don’t step on your other foot by accident, it can be kind of fun.
Some argue though, that since you are only making small holes in the turf and not taking out plugs, the value is not as great but it's better than doing nothing at all.