Deep Tine Aerification

On Tuesday, April 10th, a contractor from the company Deep Roots came and aerified the greens at Leslie Park. This aerification was different from the aerifiying that we do in the fall in that he uses solid tines that reach down 14 inches. In the fall, we use our own equipment to aerify with hollow tines to a depth of about 4 inches. The hollow tines allow us to remove soil and organic matter from the soil profile and replace it with sand. This reduces the build-up of thatch and compaction. The much longer tine from Deep Roots enables us to reach deeper into the green and decrease the stratification of the soil. While we were going to be spreading sand, we decided to hollow-tine aerify the collars and outside edge of the greens. This area often gets neglected in the fall due to the fact that we are trying to do as many of the greens as we can in one day. It also gets a lot of wear due to the mowers turning when they do the clean-up pass around the green.

 This is a picture of the topdresser putting down sand on #10 green.

A picture of the outside pass on #8 green. (The deep tine holes are hard to see.)

#5 green, where the holes were not quite filled. The outside pass is toward the bottom of the picture. You can see the deep tine holes better here.

A profile of the hollow tine holes on #8 green.