Understanding the importance of aeration for your pitch

Aeration is a crucial part of the ongoing maintenance process for your pitches. For your players to get the most out of their game, they need a healthy pitch to play on, aeration plays a critical role and will bring a variety of benefits.   

Ideally, incorporating aeration into the maintenance of your pitch should be done during the off-season. For many sports, this is now before the summer months come along. There are a couple of different techniques that can be used: 

• Core aerators – they remove small plugs or cores of soil from the surface 
• Spike aerators – create holes without removing cores. It’s also known as Verti Draining which alleviates compaction and enhances drainage 
• Slicing machines – cut narrow slits into the turf to alleviate compaction and enhances drainage. 

The type you would use on your pitch would depend upon several factors, like the size, the health of the pitch, and the usage among other things.

Get the circulation and drainage going

The grass on your pitch is like any other plant. It needs a good growing environment to flourish, and a good growing environment means the ability for air to circulate and water to drain. Compacted soil will hinder both activities. A lack of drainage will hinder play (no one wants a game of football on a water–logged pitch) and can encourage turf diseases to develop. Creating a headache that could have been avoided. 

A healthy environment means healthy roots

Having created a good environment for air circulation and water drainage, your turn is getting the conditions it needs to flourish. They gain the space they need to expand and grow while having easy access to the nutrients and fertiliser you’ll be putting down. Water will no longer bottle up and drown them, instead they will have the moisture they need to take on.  

 A dense, resilient, and healthy turf will always stem from healthy roots. Without these, you may need to replace the playing surface in coming years.

A healthy environment also means no unwanted pests and diseases

The last thing you want to find on your pitch is an infestation of chafer grubs, or another pest. Not only will they eat the roots of your turf, but they will also attract birds looking for a tasty meal. Healthy turf helps to minimise the risk of pests and diseases and allows you to spot the early warning signs a lot sooner. If you want to know more about this, we will be posting a blog shortly on the pests and diseases to look out for. 

It’s all about the long–term

You invest a lot in your pitch, you want it to perform and last. Incorporating a good aeration process in the yearly maintenance of your pitch is critical to its health. It will help to keep it healthy and allow the grass to recover quicker, giving you a more resilient, safe and attractive playing surface.    

If you would like to know more and are interested in aerating your pitch, get in touch and we would be happy to talk through the process in more detail. Simply reach out below.