Aerating the Park

This is a shot of the MMM Landscape Maintenance crew aerating the turf around the Town Center Park. It's a good action picture; you can see the plugs of earth jumping in the air behind the machine. Why do we do this procedure? I found this quote from a turf maintenance company:

All lawns will become compacted over time. This compaction will reduce water penetration and restrict healthy grass growth. Aeration should be carried out in spring or early summer.

To eliminate compaction, the soil will need to be either spiked with a solid tyne aeration machine or cored with a hollow tyne device.

And in Arizona, of course, we want to make the best use of our water, while making the grass look good.