Buy one, get one free always seems like a great deal - whether you’re shopping or planning putting green aeration. By aerating greens multiple times in a single event and backfilling those holes with sand, superintendents are able to get much more sand into their rootzone profile without additional disruption. However, there are some important things to keep in mind if you want to make BOGO aeration part of your program.
An aggressive hollow-tine aeration will impact around 6% of the green surface area. Disrupting any more area than this with hollow tines leads to the risk of surface instability. Solid-tine aeration gives superintendents more options when it comes to diluting organic matter. Not removing a core keeps the green surface and upper rootzone profile stable. This means the green can be aerated multiple times in different directions during one event.The brilliance of this method is that healing time is the same for double or triple aeration as it is for a single pass. While you’ll have double or triple the number of holes, they’re still the same size and will heal just as fast. If you fill all the holes with sand, you’ll be introducing substantially more sand into the rootzone than would have been possible with a single aeration.
The best way to do a double or triple solid-tine aeration is to apply a heavy layer of sand first, let it dry and then aerate over the top. Some superintendents will attach a drag mat or brush behind the aerator to sweep the dry sand into the freshly punched holes. It is best to change direction on a second or third pass with the aerator. When the sand is fully incorporated into all the holes, run a brush or drag mat over the entire green to even out the remaining sand on the surface. Healing time should be the same as it would have been if you had aerated only once.
If you’re dealing with elevated organic matter levels in the top few inches of your greens, consider using the BOGO method to quickly infuse a significant amount of sand into the upper rootzone profile and dilute the organic matter.
West Region Agronomists:
Brian Whitlark, senior consulting agronomist – bwhitlark@usga.org
Cory Isom, agronomist – cisom@usga.org