lawn aerator

[ailie]

I'm wondering which type to buy...strap on shoes (I only weigh 8stone with size5 feet...maybe these are fine for non-petite people who are strong)......manual push (is that hard work?...I've had one hernia op...don't want another)...or electric.
The shoes sound fine, I like the idea that they'd give a good thigh workout. The price is right but are they difficult for a lightweight to use over a complete lawn?

[woofgang]

that would depend on the size of the lawn and type/hardness of soil. We are on clay and when the soil is dry an elephant wouldn't make any impact. when the soil is wet, you'd take one step and stick fast.

[ailie]

No clay. Half is a slope quarter is normal & other quarter can be damp

[woofgang]

maybe try poking a nail in with your hand and see how hard it is to do?
Bit confused as the normal reason for aerating a lawn is because the soil is impacted and rock hard and the most effective way to do it is to use an aerator that removes cores of soil and to brush sand or compost into the holes. it shouldn't need doing often, have you thought about rental?

[woofgang]

consensus seems to be that core aeration is most beneficial
http://www.lawnandmow...erating-the-lawn.aspx

[ailie]

Thnx for that, I need to break down the thatch, soil compacting isn't prob but obviously that all helps. Hadn't thought about hiring, that's a good idea.

[woofgang]

if its thatch removal, scarify don't spike

[foxyferret]

We have a pair of these, we are on clay soil and they are quite hard work if you have a big lawn as we do. When it is wet, they tend to stay in the lawn and the straps to hold them on are not the best, ours keep coming loose so you end up trying to walk while the shoe is left stuck behind.
When it is dry of course, on clay, there is no way they penetrate. You have to have the perfect conditions for these to work, not too dry not too wet, and even then, as you say, your legs really ache afterwards. We have since invested in a bit of kit from the garden centre that takes out about 5 plug holes at a time, (it was £24.99) and then sweep in some sand, still hard work on a large area but at least you can do a bit at a time without becoming totally worn out. Good Luck.

[modeller]

I have a pair of spiked shoe strap ons . They are difficult to use but I found the way to do it was by just putting it on one shoe . You can then spike with one shoe and use the other foot to balance on and use as a lever . My garden is on gravel and normally almost impossible to spike it even using a fork but the one shoe method works quite well. It becomes tiring after a while but then you can change over to the other foot.