Needle - tining

With the temperature pushing 90 degrees it is that time of the year again, the greens were needle tined yesterday, very small solid needle like tines that punch a hole 4" deep.

This is performed during the summer months to do two things for our greens
1)  Gas exchange - as the greens turf continues to grow, carbon dioxide can start to build up in the profile, these needle tines open up the surface and allow the carbon dioxide to be released and clean oxygen to enter the profile to the roots
2)  Increase infiltration - allowing water to soak in deeper and be more available to the root system

Fortunately, unlike our spring and fall aerification, this is not disruptive to the putting surface.  Visibly you can see the holes but they do not effect the way the ball rolls.

The putting surface after the needle tines