What's that? Ah - Aeration?
If you were to ask me what one word in golf causes the most controversy, it would be.... Aeration. Golfers hate it since it ruins a perfectly good playing surface, yet superintendents love it because it is what helps make playing surfaces perfect! Aeration has been and always will be the heel of the golfer/superintendent relationship. However, with much appreciation to innovative people, supers now have more options to meet agronomic needs as well as golfer expectations. In this article I am relating aeration to putting surfaces however these principles apply to the rest of the golf course as well.
In the past, we used to core aerate. Simply stated, we would pull a small core out of the surface, remove it and backfill the hole with sand. We would use this method to modify soils, remove excessive organic matter and replace with sand to start firming up surfaces and aide in drainage. This is typically the most disruptive form of aeration and prolongs healing from physically removing a section of grass.
For the last 6 years we have used solid tines to poke a hole and then backfill with sand to accomplish the same goals as core aeration, but with less disturbance. Surfaces typically heal faster after solid tine aeration because grass is displaced and not removed. Seeds from Poa annua (annual bluegrass) are not pulled to the surface like they are in core aeration, so weed establishment is avoided.
A new technology called Dryject, uses a specialized machine that injects water and sand into the surface. Disruption is further minimized while accomplishing agronomic goals. This contracted service has started to change the way superintendents view aeration and golfers seem to like it more since putting surfaces are playable much faster than other methods. Follow this Link to see the process in action. We will be employing this form of aeration this spring on March 30th with a back up date of May 11th. This process does take one day to complete under ideal conditions. We are also hoping to get tees approaches and roll off areas aerated this spring as time and conditions allow.
On top of these methods are numerous other forms of aeration such as Drill and Fill, deep tine, venting, spiking, water injection, and air injection to name a few. Each of these has their own levels of disturbance and reasons for usage and all accomplish one of the most important components of maintaining healthy turf: Aeration.
What would former Colts and Saints coach Jim Mora say about aeration, "What's that? Ah - Aeration? Don't talk about - Aeration? You kidding me? Aeration? I just want to putt the greens!"
In the past, we used to core aerate. Simply stated, we would pull a small core out of the surface, remove it and backfill the hole with sand. We would use this method to modify soils, remove excessive organic matter and replace with sand to start firming up surfaces and aide in drainage. This is typically the most disruptive form of aeration and prolongs healing from physically removing a section of grass.
For the last 6 years we have used solid tines to poke a hole and then backfill with sand to accomplish the same goals as core aeration, but with less disturbance. Surfaces typically heal faster after solid tine aeration because grass is displaced and not removed. Seeds from Poa annua (annual bluegrass) are not pulled to the surface like they are in core aeration, so weed establishment is avoided.
A new technology called Dryject, uses a specialized machine that injects water and sand into the surface. Disruption is further minimized while accomplishing agronomic goals. This contracted service has started to change the way superintendents view aeration and golfers seem to like it more since putting surfaces are playable much faster than other methods. Follow this Link to see the process in action. We will be employing this form of aeration this spring on March 30th with a back up date of May 11th. This process does take one day to complete under ideal conditions. We are also hoping to get tees approaches and roll off areas aerated this spring as time and conditions allow.
On top of these methods are numerous other forms of aeration such as Drill and Fill, deep tine, venting, spiking, water injection, and air injection to name a few. Each of these has their own levels of disturbance and reasons for usage and all accomplish one of the most important components of maintaining healthy turf: Aeration.
What would former Colts and Saints coach Jim Mora say about aeration, "What's that? Ah - Aeration? Don't talk about - Aeration? You kidding me? Aeration? I just want to putt the greens!"
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