TERRAIN AERATION ON CLARKSON'S FARM
Terrain Aeration featured treating the parking area on Clarkson's Farm, Amazon Prime, Season 3 Episode 7 'Parking' which aired on 9th May.

https://www.amazon.com/Clarksons-Farm-Season-3/dp/B0CWV27JSV

Phytophthora destroys Yew trees in Surrey

Arboriculturists and gardeners alike will be familiar with the devastating effects that Phytophthora causes. There are several hundred organisms of the Phytophthora species of oomycetes, commonly known as water moulds, and after honey fungus, they are the most destructive cause of root rot and stem base decay in trees and shrubs. They don’t stop there. Member species cause enormous problems for crops, bedding plants, pot plants, herbaceous perennials, and all types of woody plants. Above-ground symptoms include wilting and branch dieback, but these are often not apparent until the root decay is well and truly advanced. It may also be there are other factors at work below ground. Examination of roots might show a poor root system, but Phytophthora are microscopic, so there will be no evidence the organisms are the cause. Laboratory examination may be needed to decide if it is Phytophthora root rot or waterlogging, with which it is usually associated. Either way, improving drainage greatly reduces the chances and risk of the disease.

Such was the case at an extensive property in Farnham, Surrey. The owner had planted between 150 and 200 new Yew trees only to lose them to Phytophthora. It was decided to replace them, but the spores remain living in the soil. One solution is to destroy affected plants and replace the root run with fresh topsoil. The problem is, the Phytophthora may remain at depth. The solution in the Farnham garden was provided by Terrain Aeration with a combination of their Terralift deep aeration system and the owner’s treatment with a liquid product when rain was imminent. While the product does not kill the Phytophthora, it stops it from spreading. The Terralift uses a probe to reach a one-metre depth where it releases compressed air which fractures and fissures the soil in interlinked stages. The resulting aeration allows water and air to reach the roots and the water to drain, so no waterlogging. If the liquid product was watered over the top of the roots, there would be a lot of wasted run-off. Fracturing down at one-metre depth, creating fissures that allow the liquid to be washed in by the rain, and to reach through the root areas, is an effective combination.

Phytophthora damaged Surrey garden gets deep aeration treatment

The Terrain Aeration teams are working throughout the country, providing 1 metre deep aeration to relieve waterlogging and flooding. We will be coming to the following areas soon if you would like to book treatment to your sports pitch, golf course, bowling green, amenity area, garden or any turf surface with standing water. Treatments for trees, and core sampling also available. We will be in Devon & Cornwall, Salisbury, Chichester, Southampton, Birmingham and Cannock, Sheffield & Derby, Wales, Newcastle and North Sunderland. Can we add you to the list?

While it may be wet, water everywhere at the moment we will soon be heading into the summer months. That’s when the problems begin for turf and trees. Increasingly, year on year, we are seeing the effects of global warming across our landscape as droughts persist. Sports pitches, golf courses, trees in parks, amenity areas right through to lawns in private gardens will all suffer from the lack of rainfall. Ground becomes hard and compacted to considerable depth and when the rains do come, this often leads to standing surface water and waterlogging.

Suffolk-based Terrain Aeration has specialised in one-metre deep soil aeration to relieve compaction, panning, and waterlogging nationally for over thirty years. While that takes care of the drainage and aeration when it’s very wet there remains the opposite problem of grass and tree roots not getting enough water in periods of drought. It’s a problem addressed by the same machine, Terrain Aeration’s Terralift system, that aerates the soil at depth by releasing compressed air via its one-metre depth probe. As that fragments the soil to create fissures and cracks to allow drainage and aeration, the probe can also inject water-storing polymer. Once in place, the polymer will expand one-hundred fold with rainwater or irrigation water which it stores for the turf or tree roots to take up as needed. It’s a one-way system, so the polymer does not take water from the roots.

In this way, we will be able to make better use of what water we have and it’s a very long-term process as the polymer takes a long time to degrade. Spreading the polymer on the surface is not practical, as when it rains it turns into a gel, making the area dangerous to walk and play on. Injecting it into the ground using the Terralift machine offers the best, most beneficial, and wholly cost-effective method, says the company. Terrain Aeration is the only operator of the Terralift in the UK and the treatment has proven itself since 1985. There are different versions of the machine to treat large open spaces such as sports grounds, golf courses, and avenues of trees to narrow accesses onto bowling greens and gardens. Anywhere from airports to zoos.