With summer fast approaching, you might be looking at which options are at your disposal to keep your lawn looking healthy and green. For those of us who don’t know what an aerator is, it’s a tool with either a spike or hollow tine that will poke holes into your soil to loosen it. This process provides more space for your grass to receive and absorb nutrients.
While it might seem counterintuitive to poke holes into your grass in order to revive it, that’s precisely what you should be doing if you want to have the healthiest lawn possible this year. Keep reading and we’ll tell you everything you could possibly want to know about the best lawn aerators available to you today!
In This Guide
Our Top 5 Lawn Aerators & Scarifiers
Below, we’re going to discuss our favorite lawn aerators to get you – and your lawn – through this summer.
Outsunny Aerator – Best Aerator Overall
Amazon.co.uk
- PRACTICAL: Easy-rolling lawn aerator lets air, water and nutrients reach grass roots and helps you grow a lush, green lawn
- EFFECTIVE: Large 425 mm width covers your lawn quickly and easily. 3.5 cm spikes increase the depth of rolling ground
- EASY TO INSTALL: Complete with three tubes connected by snap fasteners. Quick and easy to assemble. The space-saving design also make it can be stored in limited spaces
When we look for the best overall aerator, we look at which ones on the market balance price and quality. With this product, Outsunny has definitely achieved that.
This aerator is extra wide, which will allow you to cover your entire lawn in little time. It also has a 3-piece handle, which is easy to assemble and to take apart. This handle can be placed in three different positions depending on which one is most comfortable for you.
E-Tree Aerator – Best Aerator Sandals
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Amazon.co.uk
- 【 GREENER LAWN 】 - Aerating your lawn is proven to provide a greener lawn by allowing water, air and nutrients to get to the grass roots
- 【FIT 】 - One size fits all, these aerator shoes come with adjustable straps, a nonslip platform and heel support for a comfortable fit
- 【SPIKES】 - The aerator shoes feature a large spike creating larger holes in your lawn and producing better results
- 【EASY CLEAN】 - Each shoe is made from one piece of nylon, making it easy to clean and maintain
Maintaining your lawn can be time-consuming. Unless you have a few hours a week to spare on it, which most of us don’t, you might find yourself at a loss when it comes to keeping your lawn as healthy as possible. That’s where these aerator sandals comes in.
This aerator can fit right on your feet, so you can maintain your lawn just by walking around. It has four nylon straps that can be adjusted to match your foot size, which will help keep them firm on your feet. This aerator was recently redesigned to provide your feet with more ventilation while increasing stability. It is a spike aerator, so if your soil is already compacted it won’t do much, but for well maintaned lawns these garden spike shoes are fantastic value, if not slightly comical!
Bosch ALR Electric Aerator – Best Lawn Aerator Overall
Amazon.co.uk
- 32 cm cutting diameter
- 10 double-wound metal tines and Z fold handles for easy storage
- Ships in certified frustration-free packaging
- 2 years manufacturer guarantee
- Capacity of collection box - 50 Litre
We absolutely love the Bosch ALR. It’s a perfect all rounder, doesn’t break the bank and that makes it our best lawn aerator overall!
If you’re the classic barbecue dad who enjoys having luxury tools to make home maintenance more manageable, you might be looking for a luxury aerator. Bosch is a famous company that is known for creating some of the best tools on the market, and this aerator is no exception.
This is an electric aerator that spans across 32cm in diameter. It has ten metal tines that are double-wound, and it has handles that can be stored easily after use. It runs at 900 watts and this Bosch aerator has a high-torque motor that aims to take care of regular lawn maintenance; for example, it should be able to remove any weeds, moss, or leaves from your lawn with complete ease.
AL-KO 38P Aerator – Best Scarifier for Large Gardens
Amazon.co.uk
- 3inone Function: Scarifying, Lawn Raking and Collecting
- Tool-less cassette changes
- Scarifying and Lawn Raking cassettes included
- Collection Box included
- Petrol engine for cable-free work
Have you ever seen a tool and wondered how you could possibly need something so big or how you could need so many features? That’s what this heavy duty aerator from AL-KO had us thinking when we first saw it.
This equipment has a 1.3kW petrol engine and boasts a multitude of features including scarifing, lawn-raking and collecting. With a 38cm working width and 55L capacity this petrol lawnraker will make short work of the largest gardens. It comes with a lawnrake and scarifier attachment and requires no tools for changing cassettes making maintenance and usage incredibly easy.
If your lawn is particularly bumpy, you’ll find the large wheels on this equipment especially useful because you’ll be able to roll over anything in your way. With this aerator, you can be aerating your lawn every 4-6 weeks to keep it healthy – remember a good lawn can’t be over aerated!
Fiskars QuikFit Aerator Rake – Best for Small Lawns
Amazon.co.uk
- Quikfit aerator rake for removing lawn felt or moss from lawns for thorough cleaning
- Device head can be connected to QuikFit graphite handles (1000664 = QuikFit shaft m/1000661 = QuikFit shaft L)
- Very robust steel tines for thorough cleaning of the lawn, work efficiently thanks to a width of 37 cm
- High longevity thanks to high-Steel head, awarded the awarded the "Safety tested" Seal, Finnish design
- Contents: 1x Fiskars QuikFit aerator rake, tool head, dimensions (h x L x D): 8 x 36 x 37 cm, weight: 985 g, material: carbon steel, Colour: Black/Orange, 1000655
This hand-held manual aerator is fantastic for small lawns. It’s budget friendly and has numerous positive reviews.
The high quality hardened steel head will last a few years before having to be replaced and it also picks up moss while aerating for a thorough cleaning.
Best Selling Lawn Aerators
Couldn’t find what you were looking for? Maybe our top list is currently out of stock – not to worry, here’s the top 5 selling lawn aerators for this year.
Best Selling Lawn Scarifiers
Still looking? Here’s the top 5 best-selling lawn scarifiers for this year as well.
Buying Guide – Choosing Your Lawn Aerator
Before you choose which one of these aerators as the best one, there are some things you should know.
Spikes vs. Tine – Decisions, Decisions
When choosing your lawn aerator, you’ll want to be aware of whether you’re looking for a spike or tine rake. Spikes are better for those who have smaller lawns and who don’t need to go as deeply into the ground. Not only this, but spikes are better suited for soft soils because it takes less effort to break into the ground. Tine, on the other hand, is better for harder soils and will allow you to go deeper into the ground.
What Are Plug Aerators?
These aerators are best for those who have larger lawns. Without the right equipment, a larger lawn will take days to aerate thoroughly. If you’re one of these people, you won’t be able to settle for the aforementioned manual, spike rake. Instead, you’ll have to opt for something that runs on a motor. Whether you choose an electric or petrol motor will depend on your priorities, but it’s important that you upgrade if you have a bigger lawn.
Let’s Talk Ergonomics
While this isn’t the first thing you think about when going to buy an aerator, you will want to consider the handles. This is because you’ll be spending quite a bit of time with the equipment, so you’ll want to do what you can to avoid getting blisters or back pain.
Aerator FAQ’s
This is our chance to answer anything you might be wondering that we haven’t already answered.
Is a hollow tine aerator or spike aerator better?
This really depends on what you’re looking for in an aerator. A hollow tine (or plug) aerator will remove plugs of grass and soil from your lawn; meanwhile, a spike aerator will poke holes into it.
Spike Aerator: As the name indicates, this form of aerator creates holes via spiking the lawn. This gives it access to air, water and nutrients. These are the cheaper of the two and are while they do offer some help to the lawn. They pale in comparison to the hollow tine varients.
Hollow Tine Aerator: When using a hollow tine aerator, (plug or core) you remove large cores of soil from your garden. This lets water and essential nutrients into sub-surface soil and these superior aerators excel at breaking down compacted soil. Unfortunately spike aerators may compress your soil further.
If your soil is already compacted then the cheap handheld spike aerators won’t work.
Alternatively you may wish to look at scarifiers if you’ve got a moss or thatch problem as well.
Do spiked shoes really work?
Obviously, these won’t work if you have a large lawn. Frankly, the surface area of the shoes just isn’t large enough to get work done efficiently, and you could find yourself spending days trying to aerate your lawn. That said, this is an excellent option for small patches of property or for smaller yards.
Can I aerate my lawn too often?
In short, yes.
Using spiked aerators will compact your lawn over time and have a negative effect on the health of your garden. Plug aerators can be used as often as required, although most manufacturers will recommend aerating your lawn every 4-8 weeks at most.
When should I seed my lawn?
We get this question a lot, which is why we can answer it with certainty. You should seed your lawn after it has been aerated. While there is some speculation as to how long you should wait, we generally suggest waiting two whole days or 48 hours.
How can I prepare my lawn for aeration?
Before you aerate your property, you should water your grass or lawn. This should be done about 1-2 days before you’re going to be working on it. After you’ve aerated, you can apply compost to get nutrients into the holes you’ve just poked.
Final Thoughts
Choosing a piece of equipment to maintain your lawn isn’t easy; after all, if your lawn isn’t keeping up with that of your neighbors, or becomes an eyesore for your block, you’re definitely going to hear about it. That’s why it’s important to evaluate where you’re at in lawn maintenance and to evaluate your priorities. This will help you to choose the right aerator for your individual needs.
With all of that said and done, we want to know what you think! Do you have any questions we haven’t answered thus far? If so, reach out to us today!
Last update on 2024-04-26 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
