Greens Rooting & Needle Tine Benifits

The greens have been in fantastic condition and very healthy this summer, despite the challenging environmental conditions Mother Nature has dealt us. Overall, this summer has been normal or below average temperature wise, and we have only recorded a few days over 90 degrees at the club so far this season. The main challenges for the turf this summer has been heavy rainfall events with hot and humid weather conditions following for a week at a time. The greens have battled through the stressful periods of this summer season in fine fashion so far, with the help of routine needle tine venting and our aggressive cultural practices. Opening up channels for roots to breath and allowing the rootzone to rid itself of harmful gasses, makes all the difference in the world. Getting oxygen to the root system through needle tine venting, allows us to keep the greens in championship form throughout the stressful summer season.

Members ask from time to time... "Why do we punch small holes into the greens periodically during the summer?" Routine needle tine venting greens throughout the summer months has some wonderful benefits and there is a perfect example pictured above. The beautiful, white, healthy roots headed south into the rootzone, thriving in an oxygen rich environment and loving life.

Step by Step Greens Needle Tine Aerification Process

For more information on the needle tine process. Click Here

Topdressing & Needle Tine Venting

This morning the grounds team was very busy at the club before the normal Monday outing, mowing the entire golf course, filling divots on driving range tee/short game practice area, topdressed greens, needle tine vented greens, blew sand into open holes and rolled greens two times. With a busy club championship week behind us now for the golf course and the turf, this very productive morning has the course back in fantastic condition and ready for league tomorrow. 

Applying sand to the greens prior to venting.

After topdressing and needle tine venting.

After sand is blow into holes and double rolled.

Driving range tee dialed up and ready for action.

Today the grounds team did a fantastic job mowing and completing a bunch of detail jobs on a beautiful maintenance Monday. The remainder of the open needle tine holes will be closed after a double cut and roll tomorrow morning, leaving behind virtually no sign and a healthy putting surface that will be rolling firm and true.

For more information and the health benefits of needle tine venting. Click Here

Needle Tine Benefits

Here is a perfect example of why we needle tine aerify and give the greens a breath of fresh air throughout the summer months. 

These happy and healthy annual bluegrass "Poa" roots are crawling down this open needle tine channel from 3 weeks ago.

For more information on needle tine aeration and it's benefits. Click here

Greens Needle Tine Aeration

Today we needle tined the greens and gave the root zones a breath of fresh air. The main objectives with this form of cultivation are, gas exchange, relieving compaction, and providing a fresh environment for the turfgrass root systems to flourish in. Improving the ability for the root zone to breathe will not only encourage a deeper, more sustainable root system, but also enhance microbial activity to aid in the natural decomposition of organic matter and thatch.

 The Toro Pro Core 648 is outfitted with quad tine heads and two different sized tines (1/4" & 3/8" solid tines) placed in an every other pattern on the tine heads. By using two different sized tines, we are able to work more sand into the larger holes while keeping the disruption to the putting surface to a minimum. The larger holes seal off slower but also provide more positive pore space below the surface for oxygen and roots to reside.

Holes are opened up to a depth of 4+ inches on a tight 1.5" X 2" spacing. Topdressing sand is applied prior to punching holes, allowing the aerifier to work sand into the open holes during operation. The remaining sand is blown into the holes with backpack blowers to minimize traffic and bruising from a drag brush or coco mat.

The above picture shows the surface of the green after punching, before the sand has been blown into the open holes and the finished product after rolling. This monthly routine venting process provides excellent results and improves the health of the greens dramatically throughout the stressful summer months.

Short Video Showing the Machine In Action