Why Aerify?
Aerification of quality turfgrass areas is a recommended maintenance task in most situations. What are the reasons for aerifying?
- Reduce compaction of the soil
- Reduction of accumulated thatch
- Increase water percolation
- Increase air exchange
Deep tine Aerifier
A healthy turfgrass stand is desired by most folks. To achieve this requires many different inputs. Most importantly is the soil under the turf. In some cases, where very high quality turf is desired, soil is modified before establishing a turfgrass stand. Some examples of this are: golf greens and professional football, baseball and soccer fields. However in most cases we have to deal with native soils.
Most soils have a natural tendency to compact when traffic occurs on the surface. This traffic could be from golfers, golf carts, mowing equipment, athletes, cars, trucks etc. Compacted soils make it difficult to grow healthy plants in. A deep root system is key to a healthy plant and in compacted soils, root growth is reduced. Compacted soil also makes water infiltration difficult, which puts plants under stress. Aerification helps reduce compaction.
High quality turf typically means it is actively growing, has good color, good density, all of which is caused by proper nutrition, disease and insect control, free of weed competition and receives the necessary amount of water. One negative result of growing high quality turf is it accumulates thatch. Thatch is an organic material that accumulates right below the plants and above the soil. It causes a spongy feel if there is excessive accumulation. Different grass varieties produce thatch at different rates. Organic material is old dead roots, leaves and stems. A small amount of thatch is desirable but excessive amounts cause problems and needs to be removed. Aerification is one method of reducing thatch by removing it.
Plugs on a Green after Aerification
There are numerous types of aerification. It’s a general term. The most common form of aerification is coring. This method involves pulling a core of soil out of the ground. A hollow tine is used to pull the core. The diameter of tines varies in size from ¼” to ¾”. Different sizes are used for specific reasons. Smaller sized tines are used to minimize surface disruption, often used on putting greens. These small tines are used to open the surface allowing water to enter to profile easier, increase air exchange to the root zone and also to soften the surface slightly.
Larger tines are used to remove more soil and thatch. Large holes allow for topdressing to be added to the surface and broomed into the aerification holes. This process is done to modify the soil by removing the undesirable soil and replacing with a better soil type. This is also a common practice for greens maintenance. Sand is often used as topdressing and worked into the holes to modify the soil profile.
In larger areas such as fairways, roughs, sports fields or home lawns, larger tines are used to pull plugs and then ground up (processed) and drug back into the surface. Thatch is left on the surface and then blown off and picked up. The soil goes back into the turf canopy.
Pulling plugs on a fairway
An alternative to aerifying via pulling cores is through the use of solid tines. These tines also come in various sizes and do not pull a core out of the ground. They simply poke a hole in the ground. This is a much faster and cleaner process. It does not remove any thatch but it does aid in compaction reduction near the surface, allows for increased air exchange, and water percolation. Another advantage of solid tine aerification is the elimination of bringing unwanted Poa annua seed to the surface.
Deep tine is another method of aerification. Solid tines are used for this operation, typically ½” or 3/4’”. These tines go into the soil approximately 8 inches vs the standard 3 inches. The advantage of going deeper is to breakthrough any layers that may have developed over many years, allowing roots to grow deeper in the profile. Deep tine aerification is typically done on smaller areas such as greens, tees or sports fields.
Aerification is an important process to maintain a healthy stand of turfgrass, but not all aerification is the same. It is important to understand what you are trying to accomplish by aerifying and then pick the right aerification process that will help achieve that goal.