Our verticutter breaking after 4 holes earlier this year has really left us in a bind. We finally got word that there is no fixing it, the machine is wore out from old age. This presented a big problem for our Greens. The variety of Bentgrass on our Greens is very thatchy and with all of the laid down grass it has been hard to get Green speeds up.
With any problem, there is a solution. Today we started standing the laid down grass blades upright using brushes. We first mowed the Green with an old walk mower fitted with a brush out front. It isn't fancy but it gets the job done. We were able to remove three times the amount of grass from the Green than from normal mowing.
Next we put sand down on top of the Green and used our roller with brushes to push the sand down in between the blades of grass now standing upright. In the photo you can see what the Green looks like with the topdressing on the left and what it looks like after brushing on the right.
Then we use a light irrigation cycle to push the sand even deeper into the canopy of the Grass. The result you can see is a very good looking, much faster Green.
With any problem, there is a solution. Today we started standing the laid down grass blades upright using brushes. We first mowed the Green with an old walk mower fitted with a brush out front. It isn't fancy but it gets the job done. We were able to remove three times the amount of grass from the Green than from normal mowing.
Next we put sand down on top of the Green and used our roller with brushes to push the sand down in between the blades of grass now standing upright. In the photo you can see what the Green looks like with the topdressing on the left and what it looks like after brushing on the right.
Then we use a light irrigation cycle to push the sand even deeper into the canopy of the Grass. The result you can see is a very good looking, much faster Green.