Compost is here

A sure sign that aeration is upon us, 120 yds of compost arrived today and will be a mainstay in our parking lot until aeration is completed.  In the past we have ordered 200yds, but with a tight budget for the remainder of the year, we cut our rate slightly to save a little money.  We have discussed before some of the benefits we hope to realize in amending our soil with compost, but there is no better time than after we pull aeration cores.  Just like we did in the spring after the cleanup of cores is completed we will topdress approaches and tees with a heavy dose of sand.  Depending on weather and timing, we will likely topdress tees and approaches in conjuction with fairways.

The compost serves two main purposes, though we are treating it in this case as a fertilizer source and secondarily as a soil amendment.  While the two go hand in hand, we don't use nearly the amount of compost that we do when topdressing sand to fill aeration holes.  Our concern with using compost alone as an ammendment in the case of approaches and tees is that it lacks porosity and in the profile could eventually lead to a less firm playing surface.  Obviously we have similar concerns about fairways, at the moment we feel the benefits outweigh our concerns in this case.

An ideal solution might be to blend a topdressing sand with the high quality compost we purchase, but to this point we are unable to buy the large quantity of sand neccesary and settle instead on compost alone.  We supplement with sand topdressing in isolated areas, primarily swales and drainage areas in certain fairways to aide in water percolation.

On a side note, the compost this fall is easily the product we have received to date.  A new screen had to be purchased by our supplier to reach our specs, but in our opinion it was well worth it.  It should drag in with little or no mess left behind, which is great for everyone.