The Right Thing To Do With Soil Plugs After Aerating Your Lawn

If your lawn is compacted, patchy, or struggling, it might be time to aerate your lawn. Plug aeration helps your lawn thrive, and removing some of the soil allows more water and air to reach the roots while loosening compacted soil. However, the soil plugs left behind on the surface of your lawn aren't exactly pretty to look at. Raking them away would make your lawn look neater, but is it the best option? Generally speaking, no. Leaving the soil plugs where they are is better for your lawn. They break down fairly quickly, allowing the soil and any nutrients to be reintroduced back into your lawn.

The cores typically break down in just a couple weeks, though the exact timing can vary depending on the type of soil and weather. In most cases, they disintegrate within four weeks. If you simply can't stand to leave them alone, you can speed up the process by using a rake, shovel, or even your lawn mower to break the plugs apart. Keeping the soil cores moist can also help move things along. If the forecast doesn't show rain on the horizon, just water your lawn like usual and make sure the soil plugs get sprayed. However, if you don't have the time or interest, there's nothing wrong with simply sitting back and letting the plugs break down on their own.

While leaving the soil plugs in place is generally the best course of action, you may still want to move or remove them in certain cases. If they're spread unevenly, head to your shed and grab one of the best landscaping tools — a simple rake. Use it to drag some of the plugs from areas where they've piled up to cover bare spots. Each plug represents a spot where the aerator removed soil, so areas with noticeably fewer plugs may not have been aerated as thoroughly as the rest of your lawn. You can also use your trusty rake to move a few plugs into any dips or divots in your yard to help fill them in.

If you absolutely can't leave the soil plugs where they are, you can remove them, although your lawn won't benefit from their nutrients right away. One way to clean up your yard while preserving those nutrients is to add the plugs to your home compost bin. Once the compost is finished, spread it over your lawn so the soil can benefit from those nutrients. If you need to temporarily remove the plugs for a special occasion or simply want your yard to look tidy, composting them is a good way to put them to use.