AERATION
Air injection brings success C
ompaction related problems are common place on golf courses. Dry patch, black layer and excessive thatch and lack of root depth and density all lead to an inconsistent course surface. Compaction reduces the air spaces between the soil particles; restricting the passage of air, water, nutrients and root growth through the rootzone. The SISIS Javelin Aer-Aid 1500 machine greatly increases the speed of the aeration process by directly injecting air into the rootzone at a fast-working rate, creating thousands of fissures. The Javelin Aer-Aid also took part in an independent trial led by Dr Christian Spring, of the STRI. Over a three-month period, extensive trials examined the effect that the machine had on the hardness of the turf, the root depth, water infiltration and disease. “It became obvious that the Aer-Aid improved maximum root and depth within the soil profile and also had the benefit of increasing the depth of the average rooting mass,” reported Christian. “The overall result is reduced compaction and a healthier root growth. The reason was likely to be of a result of the increased air space within the soil profile created
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by the air injection and the fracturing that resulted from that,” he said. One of the things that was tested during the research was to look at the benefit of air injection on water movement into the surface. It was found that water infiltration was significantly higher with air injection compared to plots that were left untreated. “From the research work that we carried out, the Aer-Aid proved to be a very effective tool within a greenkeeper’s arsenal at helping to manage the soil profile.” The 10mm diameter ‘tipped’ tines are spaced at 75mm with depth of penetration infinitely variable to a maximum of 127mm. The air injection tines are designed to use the maximum air available from the compressor and produce clean, fresh air. Surface
disturbance is also kept to a minimum. The STRI trial also reported benefits in reducing disease. “The use of the SISIS Javelin Aer-Aid proved beneficial in helping to reduce the conditions in which Microdochium Patch significantly damages turf within golf greens occurred on the trial plots. Plots that were treated with the Aer-Aid with air injection switched on appeared to have significantly less disease than the untreated control during a significant period of disease pressure during the autumn period,” said Christian. One club that has seen excellent results using the Javelin Aer-Aid is St Ives Golf Club and their Course Manager, Rob Duff. “To start with we used the Aer-Aid twice a month. Now, we normally use it monthly from March until the start of November. “We had a problem with thatch in our greens because of the nature of the grass. It consists of velvet bent, which is naturally thatch grass and in some places we had approximately three inches of thick thatch. Therefore, I decided that an aggressive solution was needed and this is why I started using the SISIS Aer-Aid.” n www.sisis.com
