Aeration Follow Up

As I stated before there are multiple reasons to aerify greens, and really all surfaces.  But in our shallow rooted greens the primary reason is to create pore space for roots.  It seems logical to think that all plants require air, but not only does the above ground part require this natural resource but the roots are really starved for this precious gas.

The roots of grass plants actually require oxygen, versus the leaves that utilize CO2 for photosynthesis.  So where am I going with this, well look at the picture below to see the effects a single hole has on the rooting of our pos annua.  The roots compete for space along with water and soil, which gets compacted from the mowings, rollings and general play.  That little pore space is squeezed pretty tight.  So when we open a free hole to air the roots follow.  It certainly seems like a lot of holes are put into the green, but in fact we only affect about 4-6% of the entire surface when we perform aeration.  That little amount is enough to help these shallow rooted plants thrive and begin to store enough nourishment to help it survive the long summer months.