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Lawns can be high maintenance, and therefore require regular spending if you’re not up for doing certain lawn care tasks yourself. But you can save time and money on lawn maintenance by mulching, composting, and planting species native to your area, so they keep alive with less ongoing TLC from you.

Experts recommend aerating a lawn at least once a year. If you haven’t aerated your lawn recently, or if it has a significant amount of thatch buildup, you may need to aerate it twice annually for a few years. Keeping up with a regular aeration schedule helps ensure the long-term health of your yard.

Carpetgrass is a low-maintenance grass requiring little fertilization that thrives in subprime growing conditions. However, regular mowing is necessary to avoid the growth of unsightly seed stalks, and you may have to water it frequently to prevent drying out the soil. That includes watering the grass over dry winters to help keep it healthy, and it may start dying out in particularly cold climates where it grows poorly. Carpetgrass can also be vulnerable to some types of turf fungus, so it’s important not to overthatch. 

To prepare your lawn for core aeration, water it the day before you aerate. (Alternatively, you can wait until it rains and aerate the following day.) Aerating after watering or a rainy day will make the process easier since you can penetrate moist soil better than dry soil. You should also flag your sprinklers so that you don’t accidentally hit them while aerating. If you have a lot of thatch buildup in your yard, you might need to dethatch your lawn before aerating as well.