Golf Greens Decompaction

Whilst aeration can help break through compacted layers and into compacted profiles, a more ‘disruptive’ action may be needed to improve the situation and decompact the profile, especially where deep seated compaction is a problem.

Action will be needed to reduce the density of the soil profile and increase pore spaces as a percentage of a soil volume. This will typically be achieved by hollow-tining to remove cores, deep spiking (e.g. verti-draining) to shatter a soil profile to create fissures within the soils and to produce a defined degree of surface lift, linear aeration to produce shattering and soil heave, or deep drilling which removes soil material but with minimal surface disturbance, although this activity is by far the slowest of those mentioned.

Mechanical surface disruption can be from mild to severe depending upon the settings used, but for a golf surface the degree of disruption should not be so excessive that a suitable playing surface cannot be reproduced after a short period of resettling and renovation work.

Anything too severe would not usually be acceptable to players and the potential negative consequences on club finances in the short term may also make a severe surface disruption unacceptable, even though from a turfculture perspective this might be ideal for the sward.

Decompaction work may need to be planned as part of a regular ongoing programme, initially maybe as a 3-year plan to address deep-seated issues and thereafter as part of routine renovation work.

Other types of equipment might also be considered for decompaction work, but in practice these might be considered as providing intermediate level works between routine aeration and deep-seated compaction: The Toro Hydroject and GT Air Inject Air2g2 can also be considered within the greenkeeper’s aeration armoury.