Prevention is better than the cure

Prevention is always better than the cure a good and well organised maintenance program will keep the applicable playing surface at its best with a healthy dense sward , well aerated and healthy growth allowing the football pitch , golf green or bowls green and so on to build up a resistance to disease and weeds as well as protecting the surface against traffic , adverse climate and general use. There are various operations that can help you produce the healthiest surface and sward and they are listed below with some of the reasons why these should be carried out and at what times this would be most advantageous to carry out these operations :-

Scarification.     This operation is a very aggressive procedure and is best performed during periods where there is still reasonable to good  growth in the system i.e Spring thru to Autumn renovation this enables the root system to recover alot more quickly and not cause the opposite. The primary function of this operation is to remove thatch i.e dead grass roots this enables the root system to feed and create more healthy roots to promote a more healthy and resilient root system. Also this operation is used with over seeding creating slits for the seed to drop into the surface producing a much better environment for the seed to germinate and grow in. Another advantage of scarification is that it does perform light aeration with extensive area coverage which will help with the surface air / water filtration rates i.e drainage so with the combined advantages of scarification this can also speed up the pace of a green in bowls or golf so is one of the most valuable and useful operations carried out on sports surfaces  as long as it is carried out with the right machine , operated well and during the correct climate as well as the right time of the year.

Spiking.     Spiking is mainly to help with breaking up compaction i.e. improve drainage , what this does is punch holes in the sward to help with air and water filtration rates , keeping the surface well aerated helps the development of the root system and improves root growth which in turn will help guard against diseases and certain weeds specifically helps combat moss. With a well aerated surface and root system this will help build up the resilience of the sward.

Hollow Coring.   This operation also punches holes in the system but is used with a hollow tine instead of a solid tine as used in spiking , what this operation does is remove cores from the system making room for a suitable top dressing to be applied to again help with compaction , thatch , adding fresh nutrients depending on what top dressing is used and also helps produce a truer surface keeping it more even and playable and in an ideal world should be carried out in early Spring and  early Autumn. 

These are just some of the useful operations that can help you produce a healthy  , truer and more resilient playing surface.