Bridged aeration holes Cancel The title field is required!

1. Kyle Fick

   

   4 posts
   
   5/25/2013 7:05 AM

   Here's my scenario: We threw sand on an evening knowing it wouldn't be dry right away in the morning, but that an overnight with wind and warm temps would help dry the sand, and a little sun that following morning would help even more. Came into work next day and took a tour with my broom operator, expressed for the 3rd day in a row how important it is to make sure there is no moisture in the sand, that it doesn't stick to leaves at all when you rub your hand across a small sample area, etc., etc.
   
   Well, the first green in order was ready, so we broomed it to follow with the cocomats. All seemed okay. As he was leaving another putting surface, I asked how that sand was before he drug, and of course the answer came back, "a little damp but not too bad, so I drug it anyway". Crappy huh?
   
   Now for the are for advice: That afternoon the humidity went up and the holes wouldn't dry and un-bridge. I poured the water to it that night to make it move down hopefully, and that didn't work. I'm starting to panic. rain is in the forecast, and I'm trying not to fertilize until I'm 100% done dragging sand.
   
   Do you all think they will ever settle, should we hand water the holes to really flush them down, should I fertilize let it rain and topcoat with a little material later on to fill them up? Not sure where to go.

   
   
   
   
2. Paul Double

   

   37 posts
   
   5/25/2013 8:05 PM

   Kyle,
   When sand stays damp, it is hard to get it down on the holes. We have been using Fly Mowers for the last several years to help get the sand down in the holes and it works great. We then use a Sweep N Fill III almost all the holes are filled and the green is clean. Yes, dry sand goes down in better then wet, but the Fly Mowers will work even if the sand is a little damp. You just slowly walk the mowers over the green, sometimes go over it twice, but it will get rid of the bridging and still fill the holes. The Sweep N Fill III brush will then go over the green and move the rest of the sand over the green and finish off the holes. We never had much luck with the coco fiber mats if the sand was even the slightest bit damp, it always just smeared the sand. A friend brought me a Sweep N Fill III to demo and we bought it the same day after seeing how well it did, even with damp sand. Here is a youtube video of the Sweep N Fill in action http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rmj3T8Ilg8
   Good Luck
   
   Paul L Double
   GC Superintendent
   Sugar Valley Golf Club
   Bellbrook, Ohio

   
   
   
   
3. Dustin Riley

   

   9 posts
   
   5/26/2013 8:05 AM

   Kyle,
   
   My guess is that if your bridged sand hasn't dropped by now, it's probably not going to. As long as your bridged sand is stable and the turf heals over evenly to provide a smooth surface, I wouldn't panic about the lower portion of an aeration hole being empty of material.
   
   When I deep-tine greens, I intentionally use damp soil with the hopes of the sand bridging half way down. I like creating a large macropore within the profile. When the turf roots hit that pocket, the roots explode and fill the cavity down 8,9, 10 inches deep. I've been doing this for 14+ years and haven't seen any negatives.
   
   If you still want to try to get the bridged sand to release, you could try needle tining when the surface and upper inch is dry. The vibrating and shaking of the surface might rallow the sand to drop. But then you might need to topdress and brush to re-fill the new gap at the top.

   
   
   
   
4. White Robert G

   
   5/27/2013 7:05 AM

   I have to agree with Paul, the rotating brush is the best thing out there for getting sand into the holes, even damp sand. I watched it being used at Torrey Pines on a drizzly day after they had already tried drag mat and a coco mat and sand was smeared. The brush cleaned it up surprisingly fast, http://www.turfbrush.com. Dry sand is always nice to work with but unless you are in a very dry climate dry sand is hard to come by start to finish. Needle tining, top dressing and brushing is a good idea no matter what. I have never seen "too much" sand worked into a greens profile. Good luck,

   
   
   
   
5. Kyle Fick

   

   4 posts
   
   5/28/2013 4:05 PM

   Dustin,
   
   Your statements mirror the results. It appears after the time duration we've had, that yes, the bridge stabilized. Turf is healing quickly, and I figure that we are in the clear. A lesson learned for a young turf manager. It was a new Irr Tech who made the call. He's young, we learned from it.

   
   
   
   
6. Fischer Austin J

   
   6/16/2013 3:06 PM

   Kyle Fick said:
   Well, the first green in order was ready, so we broomed it to follow with the cocomats. All seemed okay. As he was leaving another putting surface, I asked how that sand was before he drug, and of course the answer came back, "a little damp but not too bad, so I drug it anyway". Crappy huh?
   
   

   
   
   "Well, I figured it was OK...."
   
   Words that I hate to hear. I'd rather answer a seemingly obvious or simple question, then come back to find something done not done correctly.