Fall fairway cultivation. A heavy de-thatching and some deep holes.

After years of pulling the same cores from the same depth, it has become evident that the fairways here at the club are in need of some different attention.  To manage thatch, we performed an aggressive 'de-thatching' using an old seeder attachment.  This machine removed much more material from the thatch layer than core aerifying. 

The fairways have developed a 'pan layer' which is a compacted zone just below the surface at the normal coring depth.  To alleviate this compaction and allow for better water and root penetration, a 'deep tine' cultivator was used to poke and heave the subsoil. 

Our old Rodgers Seeder attachment ripping the fairways six ways from sunday.  Look at the thatch fly!



The thatch mess left behind by the vertical mower.

 

The 'deep tine' machine punching holes 5-6+ inches deep and 3/4" in diameter.

Fall Greens Aerification. A little different this year.



After careful consultation with my agronomic consultant and other superintendents, we elected to perform our fall aeration a little differently.  Instead of removing a 'core', we instead applied sand first and used 'solid' tines to punch the sand into the profile.  It was very successful in getting the needed fresh material into the greens profile to continue diluting organic buildup and ensuring good drainage.

Vertical mowing removes thatch from the turf canopy and creates openings for sand to get worked in.

Blowing off the mess from the verti-cutting.

The results of the verti-cutting and cleaning.

A heavy sand topdressing.



After the sand dries, we punched it in with solid tines instead of pulling a core.

Much of the sand went into the holes as soon as we punched them.

The first brushing with our greens groomer brush.  It takes about 4-6 trips across a green to get most of the sand into the holes.

The crews favorite part.  Hand brooming the rest of the sand in to ensure all the holes are filled.

Finish it off with a good rolling, and the results were pretty good.