Deep Drill Feed

Terrain Aeration relief for housebuilders

One problem facing housebuilders both before and after development is ground compaction. Open spaces designated for building may suffer years of neglect, constant foot traffic or use of wheeled machinery resulting in panning deep below the surface. Similarly, during the building process bulldozers, diggers, dumper trucks and concrete mixer lorries flatten the air out of the soil in areas that will eventually become gardens and shared grassed areas. Often the land itself may have had previous buildings, and the subsoil contains old bricks, rubble and landfill. All these factors contribute to waterlogging which normal aeration cannot relieve.

 Terrain Aeration’s Housebuilder’s Division has developed the specialist machinery and a full service needed for deep penetration aeration to relieve the problem of heavy compaction and waterlogging. Designed to access tight areas, their Terralift tracked aerator can enter small gardens through a gateway or garage and provide unique one-metre-deep aeration. At this depth, compressed air is released via a probe to fracture the soil and create fissures, allowing drainage and letting oxygen reach deep into the soil. Such work has been carried out for many years by Terrain Aeration for the UK’s leading housebuilders including Taylor-Wimpey, Barratt and Persimmon. A typical recent contract saw them treating ten small gardens and a small open flower meadow for Barratt David Wilson Homes in East Anglia while a project for Taylor-Wimpey was treating an open space so the housing development could be signed off with the council as ‘decompacted’. In this instance, the full-size Terralift machines were used, driving the JCB road breaker probe into the ground. At one metre depth the compressed air, up to 20Bar/280psi, was released from the probe which, on the tail-end of the blast, injects dried seaweed. This sticks to the fissures created as the Terralift process is repeated at two-metre centre spacing on a staggered grid. The seaweed expands and contracts with the soil’s moisture content to allow drainage and aeration.

 The Terrain Aeration process has been in operation for over thirty years, providing compaction relief for new-build gardens, sports grounds, golf courses, amenity areas and public spaces. The Terrain Aeration Tree Division provides the specialist treatment for Royal Parks and arboriculturalists throughout the UK. Image1


Great Field project for Terrain Aeration

Poundbury, the urban extension on the outskirts of Dorchester is well-known for reflecting the design principles of HRH The Prince of Wales, on whose land, the Duchy of Cornwall, it is built. The Great Field, at some 12 ha, is the largest area of green space in Poundbury and work began on it in 2014, with the building of sports pitches, outdoor gym equipment and a multi-use games area. One area which is developing especially well was sown around five years ago and is now a sea of Common Knapweed, with plentiful Ladies’ and Hedge Bedstraw, Quaking Grass, Bird’s-foot Trefoil and other meadow wildflowers.

During 2020, further significant work has been undertaken with the planting of over 400 trees and 26,000 shrubs and hedging plants. The charity People Need Nature has worked with the Duchy of Cornwall and local seed supplier, Heritage Seeds, to sow another wildflower meadow on the Great Field. Exceptionally wet conditions followed by unusually dry periods, led to compaction and waterlogging, resulting in a slow start for the meadow.  Improving the ground conditions to assist establishment of the trees, shrubs and hedging was identified as particularly important.

The services of specialists Terrain Aeration were called upon to relieve the compaction and panning on the top half of the field. They brought in their Terralift machines, which work on the principle of hammering a hollow probe one metre deep into the soil, using a JCB road breaker gun; the soil is compact at depth and requires the hammer to break through. At one metre depth, a hydraulic blast of compressed air is released at up to 20Bar (280psi). This fractures the soil, creating fissures. The process is repeated at two-metre intervals on a grid pattern with the fissures interlinking to create a system of aeration and drainage.  The Terralift is the only machine which uses such high pressure to enable the process to work. On the tail end of the blast, dried seaweed is injected and this sticks to the walls of the fissures, expanding and contracting with the moisture content in the soil. The probe holes are backfilled with aggregate to maintain the aeration process.

The new Great Field meadow sown with wildflower seed collected from existing meadows in Purbeck, should be flourishing within the next two years. The local sourcing helping to protect local populations of native wildflowers. As part of the usable green space area for the local community, the meadow will be cut in July, with the low-growing flowers, such as Red Clover and Bird’s-foot Trefoil, continuing to flower and provide nectar and pollen for insects. 20191128_094711 Poundbury Great Field


Trouble shooting bowls rink problems

Deep Drill Queenborough close up 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.

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Launch of our Total Turf Aeration System

otal 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.

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Kickstarting baked hard sports pitches after drought

Windsor racecourse aeration We have seen a long period of dry weather with very little rain or moisture in the South and East of England which has meant that local authorities have been forced to cancel football matches following the late summer drought as the ground is too compact.

It will require only a modest level of sustained rainfall to render sports pitches unplayable. This is because the water cannot percolate down and reach the drainage system. Aeration is the solution - but penetration is not easily achieved by many ‘top surface’ machines.

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Decompaction of sports turf and root-zones across Europe

Decompaction of rugby and football pitchWe 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

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Aerating shady and overused areas of a football pitch

Aeration and decompaction of ipswich town football club football pitchAny groundsman will tell you of the constant battle and challenges they they face when having to deal with areas of a football pitch that may suffer with over use, poor air circulation or lower light levels due to the presence of the supporters stands.

Ipswich Town Football Club are no exception but are burdened with a further complication in the corner of the ground where the south and west stands meet because it is the point where the players run onto the pitch and where the ground staff gain access to the pitch to carry out maintenance.

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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.


Deep drill turf de-compaction

Deep Drill turf aeration
We are delighted that we are now able to offer a deep drill service to compliment our range of rootzone turf de-compaction treatments.

For me it represents a very nostalgic and proud moment because I was originally responsible for importing the original machine in September 1992.

Sadly, in the intervening years and while concentrating on building up Terrain Aeration, I did not have dealings with the deep drill machine; until very recently when we rescued her from a dank barn, in a battered and broken state, purchased her and began the task of re-building - from that day on she became 'Phoenix'.

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