We have begun to de compact the fairway and tee soils with a machine named “the Verti-Quake”. I think that this is the first time here that the fairways have ever been worked deeper than the standard two inch aeration that has been done spring and fall. We did do deep tine aeration and Verti Quaking a few years ago on the tees. And every other year we have done the greens with the process of “drill and fill” – deep tine aeration to a depth of 10 inches and the holes backfilled with sand to provide drainage. Yet for the fairways, this is a first that I am aware of.
The standard fairway and tee aeration is great, but it only
works the top two inches of soil. Below 2 inches, the soil continues to compact
a little bit more each year from cart traffic, mowers, foot traffic, etc. Over
the 90 years since Greate
Bay was built, a definite
hard pan has developed (more so on the original holes than on the redesigned).
The soil beneath 2 inches has very little pore space for roots, air and
drainage. In fact, most of this pore space qualifies as micro pores, which
tightly hold water in the soil by surface tension, rather than allowing it to
drain by gravity.
In some areas, the hardpan is so dense that even while
applying all my weight to my soil probe, it won’t penetrate it. In this
environment roots will not grow strong and deep or last for long, and with the
onset of heat, drought, or high moisture stress, the turfgrass plants can
rapidly weaken and decline.
This was very evident this summer on the fairways. Record
amounts of rainfalls saturated the soils and they never fully drained, drowning
the roots with lack of air, and creating a thriving disease environment. When
the heat came, the plants in the worst areas were too compromised to survive.
Pythium and wet wilt then occurred and increased struggles in many areas.
The Verti-Quake has curved blades which are offset by just a
few degrees. As they rotate through the soil at a depth of approximately 9
inches deep, the offset “rocks” the soil sideways back and forth, loosening the
soil and creating pore space. If you were to stand behind the machine, you
would easily feel the earth vibrating side to side under your feet, like a
gentle earth quake. The offset is strong enough that the tractor operator is
swayed (gently) left to right and right to left as he/ she drives forward. The
harder the soil, the vibration and sway increase dramatically.
A side benefit of using the Verti-Quake is that the rotating
blades also cut any smaller tree roots that extend into the playing surfaces.
Tree roots are much stronger than turf roots, so out compete the turf for
nutrients and water. The cessation of root competition will also make the turf
stronger.
The Verti-quake is a slow machine – it is operated at 1mph
or less. To do our fairways one time will take many weeks. Tees
will take a few days. I am hoping to do the course twice this fall/ winter, and
go on a bi yearly program.
Within a few years, if we are able to stay on this program,
the results will be dramatic.
The Verti-quake won’t solve every problem that we have – the
need for drainage, less trees to block air circulation, cart traffic on wet
soils, etc. Yet, it is another procedure that reduces stress and will give us a
more competitive turfgrass plant.
