may 14th, 2013

The last three days have been all about aerating the field. Having aerated at the golf course, I know how much of a mess aerating makes and how much work it takes to complete. We started by aerating outfield which takes a lot longer than the infield. Aerating pulls cores of dirt and grass from the ground and leaves them lay on the surface to be cleaned up. The holes created by aerating helps the ground breathe and it helps rain and nutrients penetrate and also alleviate compaction. After all of the cores were pulled we had to pick them up with a big sweeper that was on the back of a Workman. Sweeping up the cores took most of the day. After all of the cores were swept u we had to top dress the field. Top dressing is basically spreading sand over the grass which promotes grass growth. After we finished top dressing, we spread seed across the whole field to promote grass growth even more.We finished by fertilizing , watering, and mowing the field. Aerating is a long process, but the field looks so much better when it is completed and full recovered from it. We will aerate five times throughout the year but two are deep tines, which means we have a tractor come and put holes in the ground and no cores are pulled up, which is a lot less work for us. Tomorrow I work the high school triple header so it is going to be a long, boring day.