Grass is a pretty resilient plant, but you’ve still got to take care of it to keep the lawn looking healthy and green. And if a lawn is neglected for too long or something killed off the grass, then it’ll take quite a bit of work to get the grass back to where you want it.
Whether you’re laying a new lawn, replacing parts of a damaged lawn, or reclaiming an overgrown one the right tools make a world of difference. Lawn renovation tools like aerators, sod cutters, and lawn rollers make redefining a lawn much easier than trying to tackle the job by hand.
Aerator
Even healthy lawns benefit from aerating once every year. If you’re planning to save the grass in the lawn that you’re working in, aeration is a must-have step. It’s best to aerate at a time when the grass is actively growing. That means late spring for warm-season grasses and in the fall as the weather start to cool for cool-season grasses.
Powered core aerators are the best type to use. Removing regularly spaced plugs of sod reduces soil compaction and lets water and nutrients get down to grass roots. Spike aerators are not nearly as effective. Walk-behind and stand-on aerators are both available. Homeowners often find it more cost-effective to rent aerators. But if you’re a lawn care professional, consider purchasing one of our Blue Bird, Billy Goat, or Toro aerators.
Sod Cutter
A sod cutter gives you the option of quickly and efficiently removing sod from a lawn. It cuts the sod in long strips that are easy to roll-up and remove. This also makes it easy to replace the grass if you’re only removing it temporarily (though that isn’t normally the case for lawn renovation).
While you won’t need a sod cutter for every lawn renovation project, it is the fastest way to remove old grass. An alternative method is to treat the whole lawn with an herbicide, wait for the grass to die, and then use a tiller to work-up the soil. The later method preserves your top-soil, but it is time-consuming and requires the use of chemical weed killers. Once the old sod is gone, simply add topsoil and amendments like compost, level the soil surface, and then seed the lawn or lay new sod.
Lawn Roller
A lawn roller is a fairly simple tool. It’s a large metal drum with a handle that lets you either hook the roller up behind a lawn tractor or push it by hand. You fill the lawn roller with water to give it weight. You’ll then push or pull the heavy roller over the surface of the lawn to smooth out the lawn and push-down loose soil.
Lawn rollers are a great tool to use when prepping the lawn for seed or sod. After tilling or raking the soil, use a lawn roller to smooth the soil out before planting the new lawn. It’s also useful after planting to press new sod or seeds down so they connected with the soil below. And even if you’re not replacing the lawn, a roller is still a great tool for smoothing-out uneven places in an established lawn.
If you’re looking for these lawn renovation tools, or other lawn tools like trimmers, rakes, and mowers, come visit us at Richardson Saw & Lawnmower. We carry a wide selection of lawn care tools from top quality brands, and our experts are more than happy to help you find just the right tool for your home yard or your lawn care business.
