Venting Greens

On Tuesday (6/24) the greens recieved some much needed relief. The greens were vented with 3/8" solid tines, rolled, mowed, topdressed, and rolled again. Ideally, we would like to vent greens once a month through the summer. Venting the greens at this time will help improve air and gas exchange. By opening these small holes at the surface, the warm soil is allowed to cool when the fresh air moves into the openings. In addition, venting increases water infiltration by creating small channels for irrigation and rain water to move down into the soil profile. After last weeks severe weather and seemingly endless rain, the soil is completely saturated. Finally, venting stimulates new root initiation. By allowing the gas that builds up in the soil to escape and be replaced by fresh oxygen, in addition to the soil temperature cooling, the roots and soil can essentially breathe better which helps stimulate root growth.

The first step in the process is the actual venting. To accomplish this we use the same machines that we use for core aerification in the fall on greens. However, unlike the core aerification process which uses 1/2" hollow tines that removes a small core of thatch and soil, today we used 3/8" solid tines which create a much smaller and less disruptive hole. The healing time on core aerification can be a week or two with good weather whereas venting should fill in within a few days.

After the green gets vented, it then gets rolled using heavy rollers. When the holes on the green are made by the aerifier, the edges of the hole may get pulled up slightly from the action of the tine going in and coming out of the putting surface. The purpose of the rolling is to make sure any areas that get raised or uneven get smoothed out so it does not get scalped by the mowers.

Once the green has been rolled and is smooth then it gets mowed. After the greens have been mowed they can then be topdressed. Todressing is the process of putting a light layer of sand on the putting surface. The purpose of topdressing is two-fold. First, the sand helps smooth out any imperfections on the putting surface. Second, the sand helps prevent thatch production by reducing organic matter in the soil.

The sand then needs to be allowed to dry before the greens get rolled for the second time. The rolling after the topdressing is done to move the sand down further towards the soil surface.