I have a small well used back yard, and the soil is very compact in the high traffic areas. The grass isn’t completely bare, but it’s getting there. I know I should be aerating by punching out plugs, but a rented machine is just too expensive and heavy for such a small yard. I tried purchasing a manual aerator, but I don’t know if it’s just the poor design of the tool or my lawn is so hard and compact that I can barely push the darn thing into the soil. Are there any other ways to aerate a lawn and loosen the soil? I heard applying builders sand can help, but if that’s the case, I’ll need a lot of sand because I’ve tried it once and the sand just disappeared with no real improvements. Any other suggestions out there?
Till it up and replant the yard with fresh seed. You will need to do a little grading and leveling after you till it. A grade of at most 5* is what is normally used when grading your land.
Have you considered putting in paving of some kind in the high traffic areas? People could then avoid trampling the lawn. Karin
