Should You Aerate Your Own Lawn? A Golf Superintendent Explains.

Welcome to Super Secrets, a GOLF.com series in which we pick the brains of the game’s leading superintendents. By illuminating how course maintenance crews ply their trades, we’re hopeful we can not only give you a deeper appreciation for the important, innovative work they do but also provide you with maintenance tips that you can apply to your own little patch of paradise. Happy gardening!***

The most disheartening phrase in golf is not, “You’re still away.”

It’s, “Oh, by the way, we just punched our greens.”

You hate to hear that.

But don’t blame your superintendent.

Punching, or aerating, is a short-term inconvenience carried out in the name of long-term turf health.

But how, exactly, does aerating work? What are the benefits for a golf course? And should you consider aerating your own lawn?

We asked Jim Nedrow, director of agronomy at The Club at Indian Creek, in Elkhorn, Neb., to help us bore down on the subject.

Understanding aeration lingo

First, let’s define our terms. The agronomic practice that many golfers broadly refer to as “punching” covers two main categories: solid tine aeration and core aeration. Both are nicely descriptive labels.

Solid tine aeration is exactly that. “You’re basically just stabbing a hole in the ground with a solid tine, without removing any material,” Nedrow says.

Core aeration takes things further. “You’re punching a hole, pulling out a plug and then filling that hole with sand.”

Though one measure is more aggressive than the other, both serve a similar purpose: to promote the healthy flow of air and moisture through the soil.

Solid Tine Aeration: Everything you need to know

Compared to core aeration, this is the quicker, less involved refresher for turf, but different courses do it at different times (using tines of different diameter and depth) depending on such factors as climate, maintenance budgets, grass variety and more. In Nebraska, Nedrow and his crew carry out the practice every two weeks from May through August, using quarter-inch diameter tines, which they plunge to a depth of three to four inches. The goal, Nedrow says, is to break through a layer of organic material known as the mat layer so that air and moisture can pass freely through the root zone.

“It can get damp and humid down there and this definitely aids in drying things out,” Nedrow says. “But really what we’re trying to promote is positive air flow and oxygenate those roots.”

Lifestyle

Solid tine aeration is also known as “venting,” and for good reason. Nedrow likens those roots to a person trying to breathe through a plastic bag. “We’re basically punching holes in that bag so you can breathe again,” he says.

The practice, he says, has little to no negative effect on the quality of play. The opposite, in fact. “We get out there and roll the greens right after we tine,” he says, “and those putting surfaces are running as well or better than they ever do.