It’s a little late to aerate lawns, but local experts agree that doing so in the spring or fall can improve the health of that backyard green.
Casey Finlinson, manager of conservation gardens at Central Utah Gardens, says most of Utah’s soils are very clayey and ventilation can reduce compaction. Most people use core ventilation, which is a machine pulling three to four inch plugs of grass and soil out of the lawn to allow air to penetrate the soil.
“Pulling out the core leaves spaces free for air and fertilizer to get to the roots, making the water deeper,” said Finlinson.
A company in Utah, truSpring, has developed exiGrow, a liquid aeration product that can also help lawns on a molecular level. According to Steve Hutchinson, founder and CEO of truSpring in Highland, exiGrow solubilizes the hardened mineral salts that build up in Utah’s soil due to the hard water of the state.
“Similar to the white flaking in your shower – that’s in your floor. exiGrow releases the essential minerals for the lawn and other plants to absorb, making the soil more porous and better able to absorb water, air and nutrients, ”he said.
Hutchinson stated that the solution is a very strong 0 pH acid, but safe for grass and gardens and at the same time safe for humans. Residents can apply it to their lawn with a standard hose end sprayer. Hutchinson recommends using it once a month during the lawn’s growing season.
Hutchinson and his team worked to formulate exiGrow specifically for alkaline, salty soils. His competitors use formulations that bring organic matter into the soil but don’t address the salt buildup, which is problematic for the soil in Utah, he said. However, exiGrow isn’t just a one-hit wonder. Hutchinson said it should be used in conjunction with other aeration, fertilizer, and turf treatments.
“ExiGrow will help get these products into the ground so they can do their job,” he said.
Emily Jarvie is a Lehi resident who has seen the product work. She lived in a town house for six years, and all that time a section of the grass was always firm, darker, and blotchy.
“We ventilated and fertilized regularly and it didn’t work. We still had those patches. They wouldn’t go away for anything. And it was the same place every summer, ”she said. “We sprayed exiGrow on it and it filled in. It was the first time it looked good.”
Lawn owners will need to buy exiGrow online at this point, but Hutchinson hopes to have the liquid aerator in hardware stores by next spring. One bottle is enough for an average growing season for the average lawn size.
Karissa Neely reports on events in both Business and North County and can be reached at 801-344-2537 or kneely@heraldextra.com. Follow her on Twitter: @DHKarissaNeely
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