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| ProCore 648 |
Core Aeration is the most
common cultivation practice employed by golf course superintendents. It
takes place during the active growing season of a given turf variety. For the
cool-season turf (Bentgrass) this means spring and fall while the warm-season
grasses (Zoysia and Burmuda) are aerified during the summer months. This timing
maximizes the healing potential of the turf by taking advantage of the
aggressive vertical and horizontal shoot growth taking place during these
seasons.
Core Aeration on Greens
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| 5/8" tine vs 3/8" tine |
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| Surface view post aeration |
Our bentgrass greens are aerified twice a year using Toro 648 walk behind aerifiers. Coring tines that are 3/8” in diameter and 5” long are used on our greens. These tines remove a plug every two inches leaving open holes on the surface. This process also leaves the removed plugs sitting on the green. All of these plugs must be gathered by hand and disposed of before the next step in the process can take place. This makes core aeration the most labor intensive task that our staff performs. Once the holes are made and the plugs are cleaned off, sand is applied to the green to fill the voids. This sand has to meet special qualifications and must match the sand already present in the green’s profile. To help work the sand into the holes, the greens are brushed with a coarse brush first to knock the larger particles into the holes. After the brush, a mat made up of Coco fiber is dragged across the green to evenly distribute the sand without further bruising of the leaf blades. Post aeration is an opportune time to apply fertilizers. The open channels give the products better access to the plant’s root system, resulting in more efficient nutrient uptake and quicker recovery. The benefits of core aeration far outweigh the temporary inconvenience that it presents. These benefits include the following:
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| Visible subsurface channels |
- Relieves compaction
- Improves water infiltration
- Removes thatch layer
- Encourages gas exchange and higher oxygen levels
- Increases nutrient availability to roots
- Keeps sub-surface temperature cooler
Deep Tine Aeration
Deep Tine Aeration is a much less disruptive practice than core aeration. There is no clean up and play can continue immediately following the process.
