Verti-drain deep tined greens aeration Fall 2011

Our deep tined greens aeration started on Monday afternoon once we were able to get a small outing through the first hole.  We completed 4 holes which was disappointing but at least we got a start.  the remaining five six greens were completed on Tuesday.  The back 9 will be completed on October 31-Nov 1, next Monday/Tuesday.  Our process takes over 2 hours per green which is why it cannot be completed in one day plus you deal with wet conditions in the morning which does not allow the sand to go into the holes as we try to fill them.  Our process includes:

•  A solid 1/2" tine at a depth of about 8-8 1/2" in depth.
• We bury the greens with sand which is used to fill the holes.
•  The sand is blown into the holes by our belly blower that is pulled behind a cart.  
• The sand is then brushed to help smooth the surface and pull up any longer length grass blades.  
• The greens are rolled to smooth the surface and then mowed.  The mowing process is sometimes skipped if the sand is heavy.  
•  We finish the process with an application of fertilizer and throw on the irrigation heads to knock down both the fertilizer and sand.

Below is a quick video of the aeration part of the process.  Normally the unit is very smooth in its operation but with the added kick that we placed in the unit, it bounces around much more than normal.