The Greens Aerification Process

Aerification is one of the most important cultural practices that maintenance does 2 to 3 times a year to maintain a heathy putting green.  Spring aerification of Blackheath and Marsh Hawk has been completed (please see the attached schedule for aerification future dates).  Have you ever wondered what the process is for aerification or why it takes us, as a maintenance staff, two days to complete the process?

This blog post will give you a behind the scenes, detailed look into the process for greens core aerification.

Below is a video showing the aerifier as it punches holes into #10 Marsh Hawk green.

Below is a closer look at the parts of the machine that punches and removes cores from the green.

After the aerifier pulls the cores, we have a team of employee partners push the cores to the green collar for removal with shovels. The green is then blown with back pack blowers to remove any remaining plugs left behind.

Once the plugs are cleaned up, sand is applied by a machine known as a top-dresser.

 

Once the sand has had time to dry on the green we use a brush to spread the sand, filling the holes. 

 

In order to smooth the green caused by the aerifying process, the greens are then rolled.  After rolling greens a mower is used to help remove excess sand from the green surface (process not shown).

Greens are then fertilized and heavily watered to encourage growth and wash sand into the aerification holes.

As you can see aerification is a multi-step process but is a necessary cultural practice to maintain healthy, playable greens. Below is a picture of Blackheath #1 two weeks after aerification.