The early summer aerate is part of the Lawnporn summer program which can be found at www.lawnpornonline.com
My program is geared towards having the best lawn for the Christmas and holiday period for Australia. Obviously if you are in a different part of the world and growing warm season lawn, you would be doing the same when your summer starts.
Aerating will relieve compaction and help with drainage and filtration. Regular aerating will ensure that water, air and nutrient flow and get to the root zone.
At this time of year I put down Embargo (suitable for TifTuf - always check a product is suitable for your grass type before using it) which is a pre emergent herbicide which will protect against summer pest grasses like summer grass. Every month I put down Moist soil wetter. Soil wetter will do a number of things. Its main aim is to save and use water. Moist will get water past the waxy layer which can develop on soils that stop accepting water because of this layer. Once the water is in the soil Moist will keep that water at the root zone where it is needed and evenly distribute that moisture so you don't get dry patches.
Fertilisation is important. Four Seasons granular fertiliser is Australia's most popular professional fertiliser. With dual controlled slow release nitrogen and potassium, and added iron you'll get an awesome result.
Following my program, my week 1 treatment is Lawnporn Launch+ and Root Builder+ tank mix. Launch+ is a great conditioning fertiliser, used in times when repair is needed (renovation or injury). Root Builder+ is a kelp that is designed to grow your root zone. It is a bit cheeky to stack treatments, which I do with caution. Four Seasons for example has Iron, I would be reluctant to follow a treatment of Four Seasons a couple of days before with a product like Green Light or Charger which has Iron as well.
I had a few issues with my summer aerate this season and while I was trying to get the same result as that Golf Greens Aerification 101 video, it didn't quite work the same. My top dress was too wet and I think my sward (6mm) was too high. The holes didn't fill easily and the top dress mostly stuck to the sward.
I changed tack a little bit and this is explained in the video. Luckily I had the Swardman rotary brush attachment. I waited a few days for the top dress to dry. Although it wasn't completely dry it was much better. Maybe the core holes were a bit small however I got there in the end, did my treatments. This should recovery pretty much in a week or so.
I have had the low height of cut (5-6mm) and have enjoyed putting now for a couple of months. My lawn is TifTuf couch (TifTuf Bermuda). If you want to do the same you need to do a few things. Some tips for getting it low and maintaining it low can be found here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl8FZTetH64
For me I start raising my height of cut in summer for a few reasons. For my lawn type I think it looks much better in the 8mm - 10mm range. The green is deeper and it looks more lush in my opinion. That extra height is much easier to manage and will also shade the ground more and conserve water by helping to limit evaporation. Summer at Port Augusta SA can be very extreme. Last summer we had a day of 52 degrees, which is 125 F... Wow!! just hot..
Well I hope you have a great summer with your lawn and a happy Christmas holiday period.
