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Almost all lawns can benefit from aeration, but not all lawns need aeration services. If your lawn has puddles of standing water, uneven grass growth, thinning grass, dries out quickly, or has a good amount of thatch, aeration is worthwhile. On the other hand, if your lawn is healthy and your soil isn’t too compact, you may be able to skip a year of aeration.

While dethatching first often makes the aeration process faster and easier, both actions can be done on the same day. Aeration can also loosen up the thatch, even if you have a harder time aerating the soil because the thatch got too thick. Because both dethatching and aeration have the common goal of making it easier for the soil to get water and nutrients, it’s safe and possible to do both at the same time.

When you don’t aerate your lawn, the soil will become more compact over time. This limits how much water can soak in to reach the roots of your grass, and it keeps oxygen and carbon dioxide from the plant roots. This can limit grass growth, which may sound great for limiting mowing, but it also leads to a lawn full of grass that looks dull and sparse. Eventually, compacted soil can weaken grass, while also making it more vulnerable to pests, diseases, and erosion and even causing it to die off.

Aerating a lawn before seeding it or adding new grass seed is a smart decision. By loosening up compact soil and allowing it to take in more air and water, your seeds will have an easier time establishing roots and growing. Aerating beforehand also means your seeds will have better contact with the soil, so more of your seeds have a chance to germinate. If you do plan to aerate your lawn before seeding, aerate about two days before you plan to start seeding.