This model has a powerful 1500 W motor and its scarifying function is very effective. It removes a large amount of thatch and dead grass from the lawn. The aerating roller isn’t quite as effective, though it will work well on lawns requiring more serious maintenance. The aerator churns up the grass, so it isn’t as practical to use on lawns that are already reasonably healthy. If you’re an owner of a middle-sized or large lawn, consider the VonHaus 2-in-1 model. Powered by electricity, it will make an easy job of taking care of your lawn, requiring no elbow grease from you.

The galvanized spikes can penetrate to a depth of 2.5 inches, and it has a lever for height adjustment. The flat-free tires roll smoothly and will never need to be filled. With a three-year limited warranty, this solid steel aerator will last through many years of lawn care. Both commercial and ride-on aerators come with hollow tines so you’ll be pulling up plugs of soil instead of just spiking, which promotes more effective aeration and health of your grass. This is why you see them used on golf courses and other sporting fields. In this part, we’ve reviewed the 7 best aerators, including rolling lawn aerators, powered lawn aerators, aerator shoes, and manual aerators. Many gardeners prefer to use this "hollow tine" type of aerator if they want a deeper aeration. The shoes above are OK for creating spike holes (thinner holes) in the ground. If however you want larger and deeper holes, then these will work better. You place these on the ground and push down on them with your foot. The rolling aerator is best suited for larger lawns that have a few slopes. The shoe aerator would not be able to cope with slopes as well as the roller. Powered Lawn Aerators

If you are looking for a tow-behind aerator and have sandy or loamy soil, the Agri-Fab Spike Aerator is a great choice. We love that it has 10 star-shaped tines that help penetrate compacted soil. Plus, it includes a weight tray that can hold up to 100 pounds if needed. Thanks to its universal hitch, your lawn tractor or UTV can do most of the work for you. And when not in use, the hitch folds up for easier storage. Weighing just 8.5 kg, this lawn aerator is one of the lightest on the market. It also runs slightly more quietly than other electric machines on this list (though only just), producing 98 dB. It’s worth noting that this aerator isn’t ‘hollow-tined’. The 8 cm spikes don’t remove any earth, so the ground isn’t any less compact. However, it’s still very effective. The spikes are 6 mm wide and create holes that allow air, water and nutrients to get deeper into the soil. This type of aerator has an additional benefit over hollow tine models – there’s no need to remove plugs of soil from the tines after use. Instead, simply insert the spikes into the soil and remove. Hollow Tines Aerators have hollow tines that pull out plugs from your soil. As soil is actually removed from the ground, the holes will stay open for a longer period of time allowing air, fertiliser and water to reach the roots.

In terms of storage, the design is very practical. The handles are foldable, as well as height adjustable, and the grass bag can be removed. At 11.5 kg, it’s reasonably lightweight and easy to move around. They are simple, cheap and work really well if you get a decent pair and the only thing that lets them down is that they require you to walk around the garden for quite a long time and it can be quite tiring – from my perspective as I mention above it’s a great opportunity for exercise and clearing a chore. I like the look of the ABREOME Lawn Aerator Shoes. Fork aerators will hollow tines You can eave these plugs in place – after all, they’re just soil, and will have useful nutrients for your lawn. By doing some lawn aerating, you’re just relocating the soil to give your lawn roots the chance to breathe. If you have a small yard, a handheld aerator is a great affordable option—this type of tool is generally much easier to store and can get into tight places where a tow-behind aerator cannot go. We like the Yard Butler Lawn Coring Aerator because it is both lightweight and durable. Like many handheld aerators, it does require physical effort and only covers a small area at a time, but when used, it can loosen the compacted soil and dethatch your lawn, so vital nutrients can get through.

Lawn Aerator Sandals or Shoes

The technique you use to aerate your grass will depend on the size of your lawn, and the aerator you’re using. If you have nice, soft soil that is easily manageable you could easily get away with using a hand powered aerator like a roller type as long as it has some weight behind it. I’d consider the BMC or perhaps the shoes – ABREOME Lawn Aerator Shoes. It’s best practise to aerate your lawn now in late Autumn, as that will give your lawn a few weeks for it to recover before winter strikes. By using this type of tine aerator, it will allow water and air to circulate better through it. It also ensures heavy rainfall won’t ruin your lawn, which can easily be caused by waterlogging.

Thanks to stable construction and durable materials the tool is made of, this aerator is ideal for application on dry soil. Due to a metal design, the Kingfisher RC401 stands strong against the extended use in heavy-duty conditions and will deliver as new even after years of regular use. Besides, it is capable of digging into the soil much deeper than most of its peers with thinner and finer tines. The rest of the product is of slightly lower quality, as is expected of budget tools, but there was nothing to get me worried and I’m sure anyone would get their money’s worth out of this lawn aerator. However, this spike aerator still takes a bit of effort to push. It’s still best to use it when the lawn is slightly wet. You can technically poke aeration holes in your lawn with a pitchfork. However, there are a few issues with doing so. If you’ve got a large area of grass, consider an electric aerator with a working width over 36 cm. Electric aerators require less manual labour, and often have a scarifying function, providing two services in one. For medium lawns, look for an electric aerator with a working width over 30 cm. You could also use a manual rolling aerator if you don’t want the hassle of cables.Also, another thing to consider is how this lawn aerator creates slits, instead of poking holes. From an aeration point of view, this lawn aerator is less effective at reducing soil compaction. However, by creating slits, you’re cutting through the lawn thatch layer, making this device good at improving the look of your lawn. Rolling aerators are great because they allow you to aerate your lawn efficiently, without the cost of buying an electric walk-behind aerator. It’s also an easy machine to assemble. It takes around 15 minutes to put together and all you need is a Phillips screwdriver. This hollow tine aerator helps revitalise the lawn by removing 2 x 1.27 cm plugs of earth each time it is pulled from the ground. The hollow tines pull out plugs of earth that are fairly sizeable, measuring 8.9 cm long. As a result, compacted soil is loosened and air, water and fertiliser can all reach further down into the ground.

I like the fact that Vonhaus gave this electric lawn aerator a good sized power cable at 10 metres long, but the collection bag could be larger and I found I had to empty it a little too often for my liking.You will only need to do this once or twice a year so the cost should be minimal. We have found with these that they only come in solid spikes so you would lose the advantage of the hollow spikes. That makes it a balance between labour and getting the optimum result. Therefore, if you have clay soil, you may want to consider a more heavy-duty aerator, that will make it easier to penetrate deeper into the ground. On the other hand, if you have loamy soil, you might be able to just use simple shoe aerators once a year to keep the soil aerated. Aerators vs lawn scarifiers