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What Hollow Aerator?

Last post 12-10-2009 8:05 PM by AlexS. 6 replies.

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  • 09/10/2009 04:06 PM
    • pwgarden
    • Petts Wood
    • 28 Jan 2009
    • 22
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    Afternoon,

    I'm going to tackling my heavy clay lawn with a hollow aerator to get some oxygen and nutrients back into the soil once I cover with my home compost.  I've got quite a lot of lawn to aerate and I wanted to know what people recommend to use.  I worry that the cheaper versions which you step into the lawn like a fork may be very hard work pulling back out of the clay lawn.  But I don't want to spend the earth and get a motorized one.

    Does anyone have a recommendation on an aerator which is good value, easy to use and will remove plugs of earth from the soil?

    Thanks for your help and happy gardening!

    Robert

  • 09/10/2009 05:26 PM
    In reply to
    • BB
    • Hereford
    • 12 May 2009
    • 572
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    I don't have one myself pwgarden, but I believe that you can get spring-loaded aerators which you step on and they 'pop' back even with heavy soil. It might be worth investigating.

    BB
  • 09/10/2009 05:49 PM
    In reply to
    • pwgarden
    • Petts Wood
    • 28 Jan 2009
    • 22
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    Thanks for that.  This gives me two choices:



    A Standard Lawn Aerator - Only £6.72 from:

    http://tinyurl.com/yzss4ej

    or


    Handy Hollow Tine Aerator - at £29.95 from
    http://tinyurl.com/yl7eh4g

    The spring loaded one looks great but not sure if I want to stretch to £30 if I can get a standard version for £7 which does a similar job.

    Anyone able to vouch for the standard aerator and it's ease of use?

    Thanks, Robert

  • 09/10/2009 06:45 PM
    In reply to
    • sue1002
    • Ipswich, Suffolk
    • 06 Sep 2005
    • 5,200
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     I've got one of the standard ones pwgarden and it's easy enough to use but only if the ground is really soft and then the holes get clogged up and the soil gets stuck inside the holes.  I actually find it easier and quicker to use a garden fork but I only have a small lawn.

    sue1002
  • 09/10/2009 08:07 PM
    In reply to
    • RogerBee
    • Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
    • 14 Jan 2009
    • 84
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    I agree with Sue1002 that using a garden fork is usually sufficient to aerate a lawn. If it is still bad after that, then go for the hollow tine aerator.

    Give it a go - it might just work!
  • 10/10/2009 12:10 PM
    In reply to
    • Arrem
    • West Midlands. UK
    • 12 Jul 2009
    • 90
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     I have a Wolf hollow tined aerator and it works really well on my LITTLE lawn.  Absolutely did the right job, and removed a 2" plug of earth at each application.  Just right to sweep a litle lawn sand into afterwards.  However it only has 2 tines on it so would not be an easy task on a large lawn. 

    There is no such thing as useless - you can always be a bad example.
  • 12/10/2009 08:05 PM
    In reply to
    • AlexS
    • Reading
    • 06 Sep 2009
    • 58
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    I agree with Arrem - the Wolf aerator is really good but a big lawn would be quite a task. How big is big is the question, and could you tackle it in stages? I once hired a motorised aerator some years ago and was very disappointed with the result.

    Alex