Terrain Aeration

Long lasting effects of deep aeration in evidence at Gelligaer Bowls Club

It's always nice to be able to back up our marketing with some evidence and we thought you'd like to hear about our re-visit to Gelligaer Bowls Club in South Wales.

See our Scamper in action - view animation.

The last time we were there was eight years ago in 2002 having originally been called in mid-season because the green was not performing well. Poor grass growth, standing water and a strong smell of sulphur (rotten eggs) suggested that something was drastically wrong with the underlying drainage: failure of grass growth resulted in black areas forcing members to play from rubber mats for the first match of the season.

The green was built into the side of a valley with the green forming a terrace with the down slope end on well drained black soil. The down-slope wasn't a problem and was in excellent condition; it looked good and played well and the drainage was how you'd expect.

Trouble shooting bowls rink problems

Last winter was one of the harshest winters in living memory and with the new season in full swing, we've been alerted to many compaction and drainage problems.

From Wales to Sunderland, the last three months have kept our fleet extremely busy, writes David Green.

We treated a number of bowling greens in Caerphilly because problems with water retention had gradually returned after our initial treatments some 8 years ago. Some greens reported that they had been able to bowl on as few as five days during the entire 2009 season because of incessant rainfall in what was the wettest summer for a very long time.

Decompaction of turf after winter snow and ice

Looking out of the window now, there is little by the way of a reminder that only a couple of months ago, most of the United Kingdom has been brought to a standstill by severe winter conditions: a blanket of deep snow and ice covered the countryside and as a result, public parks and sports pitches became unplayable.

Turf professionals, despite now having the sun on their backs, will still be working their magic on the rootzone to repair the ravages of the big freeze.

Most turf compaction problems are caused by man or beast walking or playing on the grass. However, sometimes there are other recreation activities that lead to severely compacted surfaces.

Launch of our Total Turf Aeration System

"In 1987, for the first time in their lives [the greens], I put the Vertidrain through the greens this was after the October hurricane. I used 1” tines at full depth (14”) and the soil just smeared, there was no chance to ‘shatter and fracture’ to create some structure."

Golf Consultant, Kevin Munt was the course manager at the Wentworth Club in the late 1980s and is describing on his blog, the challenge of breaking through a deep pan layer on the greens on the famous West 'Burma Road' Course - these conditions existed for him, those who preceded him and those who subsequently took over until present day.

Today, using our technology, any putting green, football pitch, bowling rink or indeed any natural grass playing surface, can benefit from treatment at depths that conventional specialist equipment cannot achieve.

Deep aeration of a bowls green during the season

The majority of a turf care professionals remedial maintenance is carried out during the non playing season there is, inevitably, much work that has to be completed either side of matches and tournaments.

To keep a bowling green in top class condition a greenkeeper will have to balance the needs and demands of a clubs playing membership against the needs and demands of the grass root-zone.

An exceptional amount of foot traffic will walk up and down the rink an compound the soil surface. This compaction makes it difficult for the roots of the grass to breathe.

Decompaction of sports turf and root-zones across Europe

We have the machinery and we will travel to most of mainland Europe to assist turf and tree care professionals with the aeration of compacted soil on sports surfaces, including rugby and football pitches, golf courses, tennis courts and bowling greens.

We can also treat the root-zone areas of fruit orchards and vineyards to a depth of one metre by injecting compressed air under high pressure to break up soil pans or to relieve poor drainage.

If you would like more details then please email us

Drain wet ground and alleviate the effects of summer drought.

The Met Office say that the UK is on course for a possible heatwave with a hot and dry summer saying that it will be "warmer than average temperatures and near or below-average rainfall."

The topic of climate change is constantly in the news as water becomes scarce. It is time for every gardener and lawn owner, groundsman or greenkeeper should start planning an alternative strategy than just pump unnecessary amounts of water into the ground.

Terrain Aeration in South Wales

We will be despatching a team into South Wales in the week beginning 4th May 2009.

If you have a need for our de-compaction service treating turf or tree roots with compressed air to a depth of one metre then please email us asap.

Turf aeration services in the Republic of Ireland

We are travelling out to County Waterford in the republic of Ireland and then on up to Northern Ireland in April.

If you are considering aeration on your sports pitches or golf course using compressed air and you would like to discuss what we can do then please get in touch.

If we can arrange further work around this time then the travelling costs will be shared and thus allow us to improve on the individual prices for each client.

Please telephone and ask for Lynda or drop us an email.

Tips on draining your green and extending the bowling season

We want to take you back a few years to 2001 and highlight how we extended the playing season for Abbeydale Bowling Club in Sheffield, by aerating their crown bowling green to a depth of one metre using our terralift machine.

Karl Fulford, the head greenkeeper, called us in after heavier than normal rainfall left the green unplayable.