Lack of rainfall over long periods followed by heavy downpours on compacted grass can leave standing water, rendering large areas unusable. Glamping venues, amenity areas, sports pitches, parks and golf courses are all victims of compaction and panning. The action of foot traffic, erection and use of tents and pods, use of machines and even normal aeration can result in poor drainage, depriving grass roots of 
oxygen and nutrients. Terrain Aeration has been providing a long-term solution to this for over twenty-five years and has wide experience in treating glamping venues such as Warwick Castle and amenities like London’s Hyde Park after the Winter Wonderland event.
One-metre deep penetration using the Terrain Aeration Terralift machine not only relieves compaction, it is also the vehicle for injecting dried seaweed. The whole process has a beneficial effect that lasts many years. It works like this. The Terralift hammers a hollow probe one metre into the soil using a JCB road breaker gun (this is because the ground is usually so compact at depth that it needs this hammer to break through). Once the probe has reached one metre depth, compressed air is released up to a maximum of 20Bar (280psi), the Terralift being the only machine using such high air pressure, which is needed to fracture and fissure the soil.
On the tail end of the air blast, dried seaweed is injected which sticks to the walls of the fractures and fissures and, over time, expands and contracts with the moisture content in the soil – similar to “breathing” underground. The 1½” probe holes created by the Terralift machine are backfilled with aggregate to provide a semi permanent aeration/ventilation shaft, helping to keep the whole aeration process working. The top 1″ should be topped with the usual top dressing to encourage grass growth over the probe holes. The probe is withdrawn and the process repeated using two-metre centre spacings on a staggered grid pattern – this means that each shot interconnects with the previous ones. The Terrain Aeration process is ecologically sound, there is minimum disruption to the area treated and no mess. Which means business as usual without interruption.
Terrain Aeration 01449 673783 www.terrainaeration.co.uk
