Topdressing Before Aerification Cancel The title field is required!

1. Michael Posey

   

   0 posts
   
   9/4/2011 9:09 AM

   I know many of you do this so I should get some good info, but I am going to try it for the first time this fall. I am going to use 1/2" solid tines (3/4" 4 tine block) on the pro core 648 at the 1.5 speed. I usually pull cores, remove cores, roll, water, topdress and let dry, then drag (with a cart and brush), water, then roll again. With this I am thinking basically put enough sand down to where I can't see the grass, solid tine, have guys broom in the sand, then roll and water. Any suggestions or things that you have learned that will help me avoid mistakes on my first attempt? I wanted to get some input while I still had a week to order anything that might be useful. Thanks.

   
   
   
   
2. David Brandenburg

   

   3 posts
   
   9/4/2011 10:09 AM

   We top-dress first when we solid tine because the greens are firmer so we get less wheel marks. The amount of sand depends on the size and depth of tine but it has worked well for us.
   
   On our 14 modified California greens (Before my watch) we top-dress before even if we are pulling plugs. The greens just get to soft otherwise and wheel print from the heavy top-dresser.

   
   
   
   
3. Keith Pegg

   

   0 posts
   
   9/4/2011 5:09 PM

   I like to topdress first and then make the holes.
   
   Keith

   
   
   
   
4. Andy Jorgensen

   

   1 posts
   
   9/5/2011 7:09 AM

   We completely switched up our process this past year. The results have been excellent. No tire marks at all and greens that look like they haven't been aerified 7 days later.
   
   1. Verticut if needed.
   2. Topdress, heavy
   3. Aerify with Soil Reliever and Core Collector from Turf Pride.
   4. Roll with brushes on roller
   5. Water.

   
   
   
   
5. McCallum David K

   
   9/5/2011 8:09 AM

   When deep tining with solids we have always topdressed heavy prior to the aerification. Works well, less tracking from tires on the greens.

   
   
   
   
6. Jason Baker

   

   12 posts
   
   9/5/2011 8:09 AM

   Works great for many reasons! I would consider larger solid tines, 1/2 inch just won't allow that much sand to fall in, also be sure to have at least one more set of tines than you normally would. They will ware out quite fast with the sand down first.

   
   
   
   
7. Melvin Waldron

   

   43 posts
   
   9/5/2011 10:09 AM

   Damn all of you guys....I've been doing it the other way for 24 years since I got out of school, plus the 8 years before that. How do I break that habit?
   
   Mel

   
   Melvin H. Waldron III, CGCS, Horton Smith Golf Course, City of Springfield/Greene County MO
   
   
8. Keith Lamb

   

   3 posts
   
   9/5/2011 12:09 PM

   BallMark said: Damn all of you guys....I've been doing it the other way for 24 years since I got out of school, plus the 8 years before that. How do I break that habit?
   
   Mel

   
   
   Must have gone to Lake City. Poor bastard.

   
   
   
   
9. Anthony Robertson

   

   1 posts
   
   8/16/2012 9:08 AM

   Has anyone been successful topdressing their pushup greens before they aerify them? My goal is to fill a larger volume of the holes with aerated material. I am contemplating drop topdressing, aerifying, dragging, blowing, rolling and then spin topdressing at least 2 or 3 times. I am in Southern Indiana bent/poa greens.

   
   
   
   
10. Kevin Girt

    

    0 posts
    
    8/16/2012 10:08 AM

    Anthony,
    Yes it works, weather and play permitting. I was at the Seymour Elks in the mid 90's and what worked the best was painting the greens white with the topdressing. I mean don't hold back, cover them good. Aerify them with 5/8 coring on 1.5 to 2 inch spacing. Allow the cores to dry then verticut 2 directions preferably at 45% to each other. Give that an hour or so to dry good then drag with a steel mat not a brush, then try to finish filling the holes with the blower as you clean the green. Remember all your wanting to remove is the organic matter and not the sand. if the topdressing seems to be a little thick that's fine, rain and natural settling will prevail and the greens will be in great shape in a couple weeks.

    
    
    
    
11. Jeffrey Scott

    

    8 posts
    
    8/16/2012 10:08 AM

    Kevin,
    I like your line of thinking here and agree with all of your procedure, but when you say not to use a brush, I'm thinking that you mean a static drag brush. I would agree with that since you would only get the typical "smearing" action of a fixed brush. This would be an excellent opportunity to use the TB 200 grooming brush though! The lifting action that would occur when you pull this brush over the surface would help blend the sand and the soil and let that blend fall directly into the aerifier holes. When you are finished, the canopy is much cleaner and the holes are filled. Then come in with more sand to dress over the top and work that in as a finish topdressing. If you use the recommended "spiral" pattern to brush that sand app in, you will have moved all of the coarse material off the green in the windrow that develops and you will be able to mow the green without picking up much if any sand, so you are saving bedknives and reels as well.
    
    Jeff Scott, CGCS retired
    Midwest Turf Specialties,LLC

    
    
    
    
12. Anthony Robertson

    

    1 posts
    
    8/18/2012 2:08 PM

    Thanks for the help. I think the process will be help me heal up and firm up a lot faster.

    
    
    
    
13. David Brandenburg

    

    3 posts
    
    8/19/2012 8:08 AM

    We topdress our sand based greens heavy before we aerify to prevent wheel marks from the heavy topdresser on the soft aerified greens.
    
    Our soil greens we normally topdress after unless we deep tine then we do it before.

    
    
    
    
14. Kim Brock

    

    3 posts
    
    8/19/2012 3:08 PM

    If you sand before aerifying, how do you pick up the plugs without removing the topdressed sand? We use a harvester so are most that topdress before aerifying manually remove the plugs with shovels? Or are you not removing the cores and just breaking them up. Just trying to get a handle on this way of aerifying/topdressing.

    
    
    
    
15. Andy Jorgensen

    

    1 posts
    
    8/19/2012 3:08 PM

    The Turf Pride Core Collector has completely changed the way we aerify. We used to battle tire ruts from topdressing after for months and by the time we got them smooth again, we would rut them up even more during our next aerification. Our process now consists of burying the greens in sand, core with the core collector, then brush/roll using Salsco rollers with brushes. Not a single tire goes on the greens after they are punched for almost two weeks. Within 7 days of poking holes, the greens are healed and you can't even tell we were out there. Smooth as can be. The Core Collector has paid for itself over and over again and I highly recommend it to others.
    
    http://turfprideusa.com/products/core-collectors/

    
    
    
    
16. David Brandenburg

    

    3 posts
    
    8/19/2012 7:08 PM

    When we use our cushman core harverstor it gets a little sand but not much compared to how much we apply. Often on our sand based greens we drag the cores to bust out the sand so all that is left is fluff. We then blow that to the side and pick it up.

    
    
    
    
17. Sam Welch

    

    0 posts
    
    8/20/2012 3:08 PM

    Andy Jorgensen said: The Turf Pride Core Collector has completely changed the way we aerify. We used to battle tire ruts from topdressing after for months and by the time we got them smooth again, we would rut them up even more during our next aerification. Our process now consists of burying the greens in sand, core with the core collector, then brush/roll using Salsco rollers with brushes. Not a single tire goes on the greens after they are punched for almost two weeks. Within 7 days of poking holes, the greens are healed and you can't even tell we were out there. Smooth as can be. The Core Collector has paid for itself over and over again and I highly recommend it to others.
    
    http://turfprideusa.com/products/core-collectors/

    
    
    I have those collectors and I'm working on the brushes for my Salscos...Thanks for the tip, sounds like a good plan.

    
    
    
    
18. Ross Grieve

    

    4 posts
    
    8/21/2012 2:08 AM

    Andy Jorgensen said: The Turf Pride Core Collector has completely changed the way we aerify. We used to battle tire ruts from topdressing after for months and by the time we got them smooth again, we would rut them up even more during our next aerification. Our process now consists of burying the greens in sand, core with the core collector, then brush/roll using Salsco rollers with brushes. Not a single tire goes on the greens after they are punched for almost two weeks. Within 7 days of poking holes, the greens are healed and you can't even tell we were out there. Smooth as can be. The Core Collector has paid for itself over and over again and I highly recommend it to others.
    
    http://turfprideusa.com/products/core-collectors/

    
    
    Hi Andy,
    
    How does this Turf Pride core collector go with moist cores/soil? My experience with the likes of a standard Toro 648 wind-row attachment is that it just smeers over the holes closing them up which makes it a nightmare getting soil amnedments/sand down the core holes?
    
    Thanks in advance,
    
    Ross Grieve
    
    The Shek O Country Club, Hong Kong.

    
    
    
    
19. Andy Jorgensen

    

    1 posts
    
    8/21/2012 5:08 AM

    Ross Grieve said:

    Andy Jorgensen said: The Turf Pride Core Collector has completely changed the way we aerify. We used to battle tire ruts from topdressing after for months and by the time we got them smooth again, we would rut them up even more during our next aerification. Our process now consists of burying the greens in sand, core with the core collector, then brush/roll using Salsco rollers with brushes. Not a single tire goes on the greens after they are punched for almost two weeks. Within 7 days of poking holes, the greens are healed and you can't even tell we were out there. Smooth as can be. The Core Collector has paid for itself over and over again and I highly recommend it to others.
    
    http://turfprideusa.com/products/core-collectors/

    
    
    Hi Andy,
    
    How does this Turf Pride core collector go with moist cores/soil? My experience with the likes of a standard Toro 648 wind-row attachment is that it just smeers over the holes closing them up which makes it a nightmare getting soil amnedments/sand down the core holes?
    
    Thanks in advance,
    
    Ross Grieve
    
    The Shek O Country Club, Hong Kong.

    
    
    Wet soils will cause slight smearing of soil over the holes. But, we let them dry a bit and wait until the afternoon to brush/roll the sand in. The vibration of the roller on the first pass will cause the bridging to break open, and the second pass will knock the sand into the hole. We will typically not water the day before. However, this is on bermuda greens and we can get away with it. If you have bent, and it is still relatively hot out, you may not be able to hold off watering for a day. it is also not that bad since you have a thick layer of sand that the core collector is sliding over, rather than soil from the cores.