Greens Aerification

Greens are being aerified on Monday June 18th.  The aerification process removes organic matter, as well as, alleviates compaction.  It also makes room for sand to be placed into the aerification holes which acts as a 'mini-renovation' of the soil profile that slows the aging process of our greens.  The process starts by fertilizing with an organic soil ammendment and a polymer coated potassium fertilizer.  Both of these products improve the soil structure and allow for an environment conducive to better root growth.  After soil ammendments are applied, the greens are topdressed with sand.

Topdressing 14 green.

Aerifying behind topdressing with 1/2 inch coring tines spaced 1.5 inches apart.

Another view of the plugs from the aerifier.

Dragging the cores to separate the organic matter from the existing soil.

Organic matter on top of the green.

Organic matter removed from the green.

Blowing organic matter off of the green.

Once this process is complete, the greens are fertilized with 13-2-13 at .3# of nitrogen per 1000 square feet and watered in.  This nitrogen will help the holes to grow in and provide a soluble source of potassium until the polymer coated potassium fertilizer that was worked into the soil can start to release.  The greens are rolled the next morning and will be mowed the next afternoon when the sand on the surface is dry.  Mowing in the afternoon will help reduce the amount of mess the mower will create and keep the amount of wear and tear down on the blades due to mowing in sandy conditions.  

The holes on the greens usually fill in after about a week, but don't look fully healed until two weeks later.  This year we will be doing a Dryject the Monday after aerfication.  Dryject pushes holes in the greens with high pressure water and creates a vacuum that will pull dry sand and soil ammendments into these holes.  This process actually makes the greens firmer because you're adding material to the green without taking anything out.  Also, doing it after a traditional core aerification will help to 'squeeze' the old holes shut and since the soil is already loosened by aerification, the affect of the dryject is greater.

If you would like more information about the Dryject process go to www.dryject.com or look for future post about the process.