Core aeration is a lawn care service in which small “cores” of soil are removed from your lawn, leaving behind little holes. These holes create an easy path for water and essential nutrients to reach the roots of your grass. However, after core aeration has been completed, many property owners in the Louisville, KY, area are left asking themselves: "What are those brown things all over my lawn?” And, more importantly: “What should I do with them?” Well, there are a few things you can do. The best thing to do is just to leave them where they are; this allows the cores to break down and return the valuable nutrients they contain back to your lawn. Though, if you don’t like the way these cores look strewn about your lawn, you can easily break them up with a rake or lawn mower to speed up the decomposition process. Lastly, if you just want to be rid of these cores right away, you can simply remove and dispose of them.

Those brown things left on the lawn after aeration are plugs of soil.

Aeration core plugs left in a lawn after service in Louisville, KY.

After your lawn has been aerated, there will be brown things left on your lawn, but what are they? Well, the answer is that they are plugs of soil! During the aeration process, plugs of soil are pulled up from the lawn. While this is beneficial for your lawn because it loosens compacted soil and makes it easier for nutrients and other resources to reach the roots of your grass, it will leave your lawn covered in these soil cores.

What should you do with the soil cores left on your lawn after it's been aerated?

After your lawn has been aerated, there will be soil cores left on your lawn. Many people aren’t sure what the best thing to do with them is, but lawn experts recommended just leaving the cores where they are and letting them naturally decompose. Each of these little soil cores is replete with vital nutrients, and as they break down, they will reintroduce these nutrients back into your soil, thereby enriching it. What’s more, since the core aeration process has loosened your soil, it will be easier for these recycled nutrients to reach the roots of your grass.

While it is recommended to leave the cores on your lawn and let them break down on their own, some people would rather not do this. If you don’t want to wait for the cores to decompose on their own, you can use a rake or lawn mower to break them down. This will speed up the decomposition process but still allow your lawn to benefit from the nutrients they contain.

You can just remove the soil cores from your lawn if you want.

Aerated lawn without core plugs left over it in Louisville, KY.

Typically, soil cores will remain on your lawn for about two weeks or so until they completely decompose. However, if you really feel that they are detracting from your lawn’s appearance, you can gather them up and remove them. This method is not recommended because you will also be removing all of the wonderful nutrients they contain and they won’t have a chance to be reabsorbed by your lawn.

Some nutrients that soil cores typically contain include nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

Call us today to schedule our core aeration service.

At Lawn Works, we offer our core aeration service to alleviate soil compaction and make it easier for the roots of your grass to access the nutrients and resources they need to thrive. We offer this service to property owners in and around Louisville, KY, as well as Jeffersonville, New Albany, and Sellersburg, Indiana. Call us today at (812) 590-8864 to schedule our core aeration service.