Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Core aeration of warm season tees

We attempted to core aerate our warm season tees last week but the ground was too dry and hard for the operation to work properly.  We did get a few tees on #1, 2, 4 and the red tee on 6 before we stopped the operation.  Tees were fertilized last week which will improve recovery from the aeration.  With the rain on Monday and increased watering of our tees, we should be able to get back on the program this coming Monday with the course being closed.  Our operation includes pulling a 3-4" core, removing the cores and cleaning the surface for play.  We will roll the tees to smooth the surface and will then mow the tees to finish the work.  This practice will assist our tees in a number of ways:

  1. Reduce thatch build up in the zoysia.
  2. Improve water penetration which makes for a better playing surface but at the same time slowing water penetration in the small reservoirs created by the aeration holes..
  3. Reduce compaction of the tee allowing a tee to enter the ground more easily.
  4. Improve gas exchange with oxygen entering the soil and carbon dioxide leaving the soil. 
  5. Improved root growth in the aeration holes. 

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