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There are a few time periods or conditions during which you should avoid aerating your lawn. For example, do not aerate when the ground is frozen or waterlogged, as it can damage the soil structure and grass roots. Aerating during the peak of summer heat or drought is also not recommended since it can stress your grass further. It's best to wait for cooler, more favorable conditions. Finally, newly seeded lawns should not be aerated until the grass is well-established, usually at least one year after seeding.

Yes, you should water the lawn after aerating. Now that you’ve loosened up the soil to better receive nutrients, it’s time to hydrate and fertilize your lawn. You’ll want to keep it evenly moist to promote healthy growth. Don’t drown your grass—too much of a good thing can reverse all the work you’ve done with aeration in the first place. But especially if you’ve overseeded and/or fertilized after aeration, you’ll want to ensure a moist soil layer to absorb those nutrients and fuel for new growth.

Both aerating and scarifying your lawn can offer serious benefits. Aerating pokes holes in the soil to better allow air, moisture, and nutrients to permeate while scarifying removes the buildup of dead plant matter at the soil’s surface. Most lawns require both of these maintenance items to thrive.

Depending on the lawn treatments, the best times of the year to redo your lawn are between mid-August and mid-September for overseeding and renovation treatments. For areas such as the southern United States, lawn aeration works best during the fall, when the temperatures begin to drop. Otherwise, early spring is your next best bet because the grass is fresh and ready to absorb nutrients, and the temperature isn’t hot enough to fry the grass and the renovation materials.