Its been a busy week at Highlands Falls. The croquet project is well under way, we have been working on drainage projects, and we are finishing our aerification program on the greens. Two weeks ago, we completed the traditional "core" aerification of the greens. This process is where we pull plugs from the greens and follow that up by a heavy dose of sand. We are now finishing up an aerification process called "Dryject" where we inject sand into the root zone of the greens.
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| Dryject on the 17th green. |
Despite what the name might imply, "Dryject" actually involves high pressure water injecting sand into the green. While traditional aerification only works to a depth of about 3 inches, "Dryject" can penetrate up to 8 inches, however we prefer to inject the sand to a depth of about 4 - 5 inches. The "Dryject" process has several benefits that make it unique. First, it is minimally invasive in that play can resume when the process is finished. Second, we can calibrate exactly haw much sand we want injected into the green. It can also shatter any soil layering that may occur over time. Additionally, it has many of the same benefits of traditional aerification.
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| A soil profile showing the sand injection. |
The process can be a bit labor intensive as two crew members need to be with the contractor to keep the sand bin full. Once finished, we will have injected over 22 tons of sand into the greens. Along with traditional "core" aerification, the "Dryject" process has helped our greens perform at high level.
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| Two men per machine are needed to keep the hopper full of sand. |
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| Once brushed in, the green will be ready for play. |
