August 11, 2014

Venting greens today

We are aerating the greens this morning using our "needle tines". These are  0.3" solid tines that break through the surface of the Turf that has been sealed off due to the excessive mowing and rolling that we have been doing lately. The holes improve the exchange of gases between the soil and the atmosphere and improve water infiltration. They also extend the benefit of prior serrations by reconnecting the old holes to the surface.   The process will have little impact on the playing surfaces once we resume mowing tomorrow. 
The timing of the process is ideal as we have been trying to slowly rehydrate the greens, and heavy rains are forecast for the middle of the week. University research has shown that the benefits of this process are typically realized for three weeks following the aeration , which will bring us to the end of August, and right up to the club championship. 
I will monitor the condition of the greens over the coming weeks to see if we will need to complete the process once more before we core aerify next month. 

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