Compacted clay is quietly starving your lawn.
Most of Ottawa is built on heavy clay, and clay compacts — under feet, dogs, mowers and time. Core aeration opens the root zone back up so water, air and nutrients actually reach the roots. A straightforward service, recommended when your lawn needs it — and not when it doesn't.
How core aeration opens compacted soil.
Opens the root zone
A core aerator pulls thousands of soil plugs, leaving open channels through the compacted layer. Air, water and nutrients reach the roots directly instead of sitting on the surface — the difference matters most on the heavy clay under most Ottawa-area lawns.
Lets roots grow deeper
Roots follow the path of least resistance. Opened soil gives them somewhere to go, and deeper roots are what carry a lawn through July heat and January freeze.
Feeds the soil back to itself
The cores stay on the lawn and break down over a few weeks, returning soil and microbes to the surface where they help digest thatch. No raking needed — disappearing cores are the treatment finishing its job.
The signs are on the surface.
- Water pools or runs off instead of soaking in after rain
- High-traffic paths — play areas, dog runs, shortcuts — going thin or bare
- Soil feels hard underfoot even days after watering
- Grass thinning while weeds that love compacted ground move in
- A spongy thatch layer building up faster than it breaks down
- A lawn on heavy clay that has never been aerated
Two or more of these and aeration is probably worth pricing. None of them? Then you likely don't need it this season.
Aeration works alone. It works harder in a program.
On its own, core aeration is the single most cost-effective thing you can do for a compacted lawn. But the open channels it leaves are also the delivery route for everything else — which is why it anchors our soil and seeding programs.
Revive — Soil Health →
Aeration is one of the three treatments in the Revive program — the open channels carry compost and pH amendments into the root zone, so each treatment multiplies the others.
Repair — Precision Seeding →
If the lawn also needs density, the Aeraseeder does both jobs in one: opening the soil and placing seed into it mechanically — real seed-to-soil contact, never broadcast over compaction.
Organic Maintenance →
Maintenance clients add spring or fall core aeration to the four-visit program — the feeding schedule works noticeably harder in soil that can actually absorb it.
Common questions.
Does every lawn need aeration every year?
No — and we'll tell you if yours doesn't. Lawns on heavy clay or with real foot traffic usually benefit annually; a sandy, lightly-used lawn may not need it nearly as often. Compaction is something we check on site — not something we assume.
What happens to the plugs left on the lawn?
Leave them. The cores break down over a few weeks — rain and mowing work them back in, returning soil and microbes to the surface where they help digest thatch. Raking them up throws away part of the benefit.
Aeration or dethatching — which one do I need?
They fix different problems: aeration relieves compacted soil, dethatching removes a matted layer of dead material above it. Some lawns need one, some both, some neither — we confirm it on site before you pay for anything. Aeration itself also speeds thatch breakdown, so borderline thatch often doesn't need a separate treatment.
When's the best time to aerate in Ottawa?
Spring or fall, when the soil is moist and the grass is actively growing — recovery is fastest and the machine pulls proper cores instead of shattering dry ground. We schedule around your soil, not the calendar week.
What does it cost?
Core aeration is priced by lawn size — the online estimator gives you a range for your property in about 60 seconds, no email required. It can stand alone or be combined with other services in the same visit.