Successful Day of aerating

Today we aerated all 20 greens.  I think that is a first in the five years I’ve been here.  Everyone on the staff really worked hard to accomplish it and Mother Nature helped out too.  Hopefully she is kind to us again tomorrow so that we can finish topdressing the last 11 holes.   The aeration process is a necessary evil for a green.  We start with a deep tine aerator which has a solid tine and goes up to 10 inches into the soil.  It fractures and loosens the soil deep in the profile.  Then we pull cores which helps to further reduce compaction, release gases from the soil, allow oxygen to reach the roots, and break up soil layering.  After the plugs are removed we top dress with a heavy layer of sand.  Some of the sand that you see on the green will work it’s way into the holes, the rest will settle into the turf canopy protecting the crown of the plant during the winter months.  As detrimental as this process seems it is very important to the health of the green throughout the growing months.