• It is caused by wear and tear and heavy traffic.  
• It is easy to check for and it is easy to fix.

To test if you have a compacted lawn:

• Push a garden fork or screwdriver into the ground.  
• In a good lawn, the tines of the fork should easily go down halfway or more.
• If they don’t the chances are the lawn is compacted and it needs some fixing.

Fix the problem:

• You can aerate compacted lawns with a garden fork or power aerator or coring machines.  
• You can hire petrol driven lawn aerators from equipment rental companies.
• You can also apply gypsum to compacted lawns at the rate of about 1 kilo per square metre.