Next Monday-Tuesday (8/23-8/24) we will undertake our final greens aerification on the Irving Park course.
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Aerification
is an important cultural practice. Through aerification we; 1) extract excessive accumulation of organic
material; 2) improve soil gas exchange; 3) stimulate new root development; 4)
stimulate microbial activity; and 5) improve the plants ability to withstand
biotic and abiotic stresses.
Having
said that, there are still plenty of golfer skeptics! Aerification is one of
the most despised cultural practices when it comes to the golfer as it disrupts
the playing surface; is usually done during the prime playing seasons; and
according to most golfers has no redeeming features other than to decrease green
performance and raise one's golf score. On the other hand, aerification is
likely the most important cultural practice that a turf manager can perform.
Why? Simply put to maintain a root system under the target plant. The plant's
response is to maintain density enabling it to tolerate traffic, and resist
ball marking; maintain a deep effective root system to withstand limitations on
water quantity and water quality; and to maintain healthy plant growth to tolerate
biotic and abiotic stresses.
The biggest difference is Bentgrass, being a cool season grass, grows best during the spring and fall months. On the other hand, Bermuda is a warm season grass that grows best during the summer months. Ideally we seek to annually achieve organic matter removal in the 15%-20% range of the total surface area for highly manicured surfaces such as golf course greens. We also schedule aerification either during or just prior to ideal growing conditions to enable the plant to take full advantage of the process and to maximize recovery time.
Bermudagrass is a much tougher plant than Bentgrass and can withstand a much more aggressive aerification process than its Bentgrass counter part. So with only one true growing season for Bermudagrass and it being a tougher plant we only schedule one aerification on the Bermuda where we aggressively verticut the entire surface multiple times over and then double aerify the green, effectively seeking to hit our goal of surface disruption (organic matter removal) all in one shot.
Bentgrass is a somewhat more delicate plant with three completely different growing seasons. Each time we aerify the Bentgrass we use a somewhat less aggressive level of surface disruption where the cumulative effect of our three aerifications adds up to the 15%-20% goal.
Total Full Recovery time following an aerification procedure:
Bermudagrass - 5 weeks
Bentgrass - 4 weeks x 3 = 12 weeks
