So I want to get my lawn aerated. I have called four places near me and left messages and or emails the pas week. Only one responded. Came out to give me an estimate then told me they do not actually do aerating but could power rake my lawn instead. Pass. I really do not want to rent a machine from home depot, then borrow may dads car to get it to my house. While also trying to figure out both how to use the machine and not screw up the job.

I was watching a guy on Youtube who raked up all the cores after aerating. I always thought you left them on the lawn.

https://www.trugreen.com/products-and-services/aeration

Can't you just take a pitch fork and jab a few hundred holes into thelawn.

This is the perfect time to aerate your yard, though I understand your reluctance to rent an aerator. They are very heavy and loading/unloading it is a 2-man job. What I typically do is go in on a rental with a friend and split the cost. Aeration should optimally be done every September but if you skip a year its not going to kill you, not that big of a deal. I aerate and overseed and fertilize the shit out of it in early September and by mid-October it is usually looking great. I hope you find someone who can get the job done for you, it really does make a huge difference. One other thing I do is liquid aeration throughout the year. It isn't the same as physically aeration but it does help and if used regularly you can really promote root strength.

I looked into that but they want me to buy a package and not just the aeration and over seed.

I've got a lot of crabgrass in my lawn. There are some large swaths I would like to eliminate. Should I dig it up right now and reseed?

what kind of political shit can be said to get this thread moved ??

I've got a lot of crabgrass in my lawn. There are some large swaths I would like to eliminate. Should I dig it up right now and reseed?

MOVE

So typically getting rid of crabgrass is a springtime "preventative" job. I lay down a product called Prodiamine in a couple of doses, first in mid-spring and then again about a month or 6 weeks later. There are other preventatives that are more easy to find at a big-box store, the most common be Scotts with "Halts" that is a combo crabgrass preventer with fertilizer. I use only organic fertilizer, so i like to keep my weed control separate from my fertilizer, but I am sure the Scotts product works fine as well. Once your crabgrass germinates and starts to grow, you are pretty much SOL for the year UNLESS you have a small enough area where actually pulling out by hand is an option. If that is the case, sure, you can totally pull it out (getting as much of the roots as possible) and immediately re-seed. The problem you may have is if the crabgrass has already gone to seed and the seeds are already in your yard waiting for Spring. Either way, I dont think you can go wrong pulling out what you can now and seeding so that the grass starts grown this fall so that in the spring at very least the crabgrass will have some competition. Definitely try to address any wide-spread crabgrass problems next Spring before it germinates and starts growing.

Thanks for the advice. I've got big patches of crabgrass and would like to begin addressing it now by digging it out and reseeding. If I use a preventative chemical next spring, I'll have to wait until the fall to plant additional seed, right?

https://www.menards.com/main/outdoors/gardening/lawn-plant-care/weed-killers/bioadvanced-trade-ready-to-use-all-in-one-lawn-weed-crabgrass-killer-24-oz/704125a/p-1444424886591-c-1463608034797.htm

Use this shit. My neighbor has bad crabgrass and it always creeps into my yard. The stuff I put on in early spring works for a little while. I keep a few of these on hand to spray when it starts up in my lawn. It disappears in a week and lasts the rest of the year. Snuff it out early so it doesnt kill your lawn.