are lawn aerators any good

gamston

my lawn has lots of moss,which i has treated
but the surface holds the water
i was looking at getting one of the manual lawn aerators from argos
my garden is about 45mts x 30 mts so using a fork to aerator it would be back breaking
i have thought about making the shoe aerators, but the spikes will only break the surface of the lawn

what do you think i should do
thanks

[Deleted User]

They aren`t nearly as good as a fork, when you can go deep and lean back to make the holes a decent size. We did it in the past and then brushed sand into the holes, it did the job. You could break the job down into sessions, not all at once

gamston

so you think fork and then sand down holes is best
looks like i'm in for a poor old back over next few weeks

Lifes_Grand_Plan

What is the best type of sand to use please?

TonyMMM

Sharp sand, not builder's sand ... and you will need quite a lot of it to make a difference. I would look at geting a large bag delivered from a builders merchant, rather than the small packs from a garden centre or B&Q.

[Deleted User]

It will be easier now until may, while the ground is soft. Just do a half hour at a time and you will get through it

Alter_ego

Don't buy the aerators with 5-6 hollow tines, they clog up with earth every few minutes.

gamston

thanks for all the replies
just got to get the sand now

Lifes_Grand_Plan

I know you said not to use B&Q but i've only got a small garden...

Is this the right sort of thing? http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9273145&fh_view_size=10&fh_location=%2f%2fcatal!!!1%2fen_GB&fh_search=sharp+sand&fh_eds=%C3%9F&fh_refview=search&isSearch=true

Just wanted to check because of all the comments on there of people building stuff with it.

Cheers.

Lifes_Grand_Plan

Alter_ego wrote: »

Don't buy the aerators with 5-6 hollow tines, they clog up with earth every few minutes.

I read somewhere that this is due to doing it in the wrong conditions...

Too wet soil and it will just clog them up. I guess you need the ground soft to get the tines in, but not so wet that it will stick.

gamston

looks right
sharp sand or grit sand, has very small bits of stone in it

builders sand is just sand, no bits in it