Recently, I have been referring to the Graden machine multiple times and it may create some confusion. There are two different practices we do to greens and the words are often used interchangeably:
1. Verticutting: This is the Graden machine. Above and below are pictures of the blades. Imagine 15 of these blades set 1" deep into the green and spaced out about 3/4" from each other. As a staff member walks it across the green, the blades spin, removing organic matter from the green. Above, the arrow points at the 'paddle' that in this case, is 3 mm wide. They come in 1 mm and 2 mm widths as well. Of course, for maximum benefit, I use the 3 mm blade which disrupts 11% of the entire green surface.
2. Grooming: All of our greens mowers are equipped with 'groomers.' These are tiny blades that only "tickle" the surface, at most 1/8" deep. Their main objective is to stand the turf upright before it gets mowed. We also have a riding greens mower that is equipped with a set of grooming blades. We may set this slight deeper and use it prior to topdressing. The small grooves give the sand a place to settle and allows us to incorporate sand into the canopy. See the prior blog post to see groomer photos.
