Aerating our Lawn via PlugginALawn

Have you ever walked by your neighbors yard and saw something that looked like this and wondered what the heck they were doing?  I admit, when I was younger everytime I encountered grass that had been aerated, I always thought that they were a bunch of turds.  They kinda look like it.

Well...guess what?  We're now the house on the block with a lawn that the kids in our neighborhood will think is full of turds.  Late last week, we had a company called Pluggin A Lawn come out and aerate the yard and parkway.  They say that the benefits of aeration include enhanced root growth through moisture and air circulation which all lead to a greener yard.  This will be our second summer with the yard and while many of our neighbors have companies come take care of their lawns with maintenance and fertilization products, we're going to go it alone.  We won't have the best looking grass right away, but hopefully we'll get there with steps like this.

I'm not totally sure that aeration will help, but the scientist in me is happy that we have a test and control areas to compare.  We didn't aerate the backyard (the control group)- mostly because it is set to get torn up with garage work.  Some parts of the back and side yard will stay untouched, so we'll know how aeration impacts the grass up front (the test group) and compare it to the control section on the back/side of the house.

If it works, I'll have to figure out a plan for next Spring.  I've been eyeing these Aeration Sandals (in the video below).  Maybe they'll prove to be just as successful in improving the grass.  If they do....they'll pay for themselves in less than one year!