Aeration is a difficult practice because while it is critical to plant health, it doesn't exactly leave behind the smoothest putting surfaces 😀
To best find a balance between sound agronomy and play-ability we asked Cutler to pull a sample from each green and run a Soil Mechanix test. We are interested in: bulk density, porosity, infiltration rates and organic matter content.
After sampling each green, we applied sand top-dressing at a rate of 1000 lbs. per 1000 square feet.
Once the greens were top-dressed, each surface was deep tined to a depth of 7". The tines were 1/2" in diameter and spaced at 2" x 2".
After the deep-tine, each green was aerated using 3 different methods.
Green #1 was triple, solid-tined to a depth of 2.5" using 5/8" diameter, solid tines.
Green #2 was core aerated with 3/8" coring tines to a depth of 2.5" and then solid tined with the 5/8" solid tines.
Green #3 was core aerated with 1/4" coring tines to a depth of 2.5" and then solid tined with the 5/8" solid tines. (Although a 1/4" tine, the spacing was tighter than the 3/8" application)
After the respective aerations, each green was swept and rolled in multiple directions. The finished products are below:
Green #1 - 3x Solid
Green #2 - 3/8" Core + 1x Solid
Green #3 - 1/4" Core (Quad Tine) + 1x Solid
Fortunately, Monday night, we received over 1" of rain so when Cutler returned to re-sample each green, the surfaces were plenty clean and washed-in.
Now that we have sampled each green before and after the different aerations we will await the physical results. Our hope is that the least disruption will produce the best test results (wishful thinking:) Although that is unlikely, we at least hope that the most disruption will produce the best results so that we can feel really confident about the "pain" we may be inflicting in 6 weeks. Whatever the results may be, it was an interesting experiment and we are excited to see what the differences will be.
Our next post will cover the results and offer our best conclusions.
