Thanks @Fairygirl, if I can’t get any cores up are you saying a fork would be better? I suppose the aerator would just be pushing the clay from the surface down further,but there would be an obvious hole in which water and oxygen can get too - so I’m not sure. Perhaps I’m missing the point here and my question should be “ what’s the remedy for compacted lawns?”
I suppose I'm saying - the fork might have done as good a job, but it's a difficult thing to measure, unless you experimented with two areas - one done with the fork, and one with aerator. You may find one system is then better than the other and can proceed from there
I've often thought about getting one of those aerators, but I'm not too bothered about my 'lawns' as long as they're green, so I just occasionally use a fork - mainly beside the pond where there's a bit of extra run off onto the grass. The back one was specifically created with lots of gravel further down to help with drainage, as we get high rainfall, and the front has plenty of planting nearby to soak up excess. It gets mossy in winter because of the aspect there, but it greens up once drier weather comes in and the grass outgrows it a bit more.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Compacted lawns mean that the oxygen in the soil which is needed to make the grass roots grow is being squashed out hence the need to aerate it. The holes just allow the air to percolate further down. Our lawn management company used a machine like a lawnmower which took plugs out of the lawn and then ejected them to lay on the top which we were advised to leave to break down which then acted as a soil improver.
Actually we only had the lawn professionally scarified and aerated once, it looked such a mess afterwards and cost such a lot, we were never sure it was worth it. We have however just bought an electric scarifier and spiked the lawn with a fork because we now have a lot of thatch, so who knows!
I have one of those hollow-tine aerators (manual, not a machine) but I hardly ever use it because our soil has a lot of pebbles in it. A fork is still hard work but not quite as hard as poking small pebbles out of the hollow tines.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
I am having the same problem with my manual aerator. I kept having to unclog it with a stick and hammer every 5 meters of aerating a compacted soil. in the end I gave up and continued with solid aeration.
I went online to search for better aerator and have come across this "anti-clog" hollow tine aerator but it is on a pricey side.
I have one of the manual aerators too and have to unclog it after every go! I keep trying it in different weather conditions but it always clogs, and even using a stick doesn't clear the holes properly so I end up just using it clogged, making holes with it much as a fork would do, but bigger and easier on the foot. If a core of soil ever popped up out of the hollow tines I'd be ecstatic.....
I'd be wary of spending so much on the one featured, given that the normal ones just don't work on certain soils, but hopefully someone may have one and can comment on its usefulness.
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Perhaps I’m missing the point here and my question should be “ what’s the remedy for compacted lawns?”
I've often thought about getting one of those aerators, but I'm not too bothered about my 'lawns' as long as they're green, so I just occasionally use a fork - mainly beside the pond where there's a bit of extra run off onto the grass. The back one was specifically created with lots of gravel further down to help with drainage, as we get high rainfall, and the front has plenty of planting nearby to soak up excess. It gets mossy in winter because of the aspect there, but it greens up once drier weather comes in and the grass outgrows it a bit more.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Actually we only had the lawn professionally scarified and aerated once, it looked such a mess afterwards and cost such a lot, we were never sure it was worth it. We have however just bought an electric scarifier and spiked the lawn with a fork because we now have a lot of thatch, so who knows!
I went online to search for better aerator and have come across this "anti-clog" hollow tine aerator but it is on a pricey side.
https://www.gardenimports.co.uk/product/swardman-hollow-tine-fork-aerator/?v=79cba1185463
does anyone here own one of these, and would you recommend?
I'd be wary of spending so much on the one featured, given that the normal ones just don't work on certain soils, but hopefully someone may have one and can comment on its usefulness.