TECHNICAL
Primary piped drainage installation
playable, keep their courses open and protect the organisation’s income. Drainage schemes can be costly but, when faced with loss of revenue, are easily justified if properly planned and phased in a logical programme. Having a drainage vision and a believable path is the sensible way to go and helps to spread the cost over a few years, which will help the club’s financiers allocate funds with less pain.
In most cases, a form of primary drainage system will be required dependent on the severity of the problem. A primary system consists of a network of lateral drains that carry water to a main drain, outfall or open ditches and away from the playing surface. Primary drainage systems also form the infrastructure for any subsequent secondary systems. It is also important that pipe outfalls
going to course ditches are kept clear and form part of a manager’s annual regime. There are many secondary drainage options available to turf managers. The key to success is to understand that surface water will generally not travel much more than ten metres, therefore, the closer the spacings the more effective the secondary system. To put it another way, the closer the secondary laterals, the quicker the movement away from the surface and the quicker it becomes playable. Secondary drainage should be installed perpendicular to piped drains. The proximity of permeable backfill to the surface can often dictate the most suitable type of secondary drainage, but also cost often plays a significant part. Options for secondary drainage are not limited to these operations, but these are the
most recognised solutions and possibilities:
Verti-draining and slitting: Both introduce air into the soil and open up the surface profile, but aren’t necessarily creating a direct channel to transfer water from the surface to the drains. Good practice at the right time of year.
Mole plough: Crude but effective in the right soil type at the right time of year. Will quickly close-up with footfall and could crack open in drought conditions in heavier clay soils.
Earthquake, Shockwave, Groundbreaker: These linear decompaction units are crude but effective if slits held open with sand infill. Again, be careful of continuous slitting in heavier clay soils which will be prone to shrinkage in dry conditions.
Verti-Drain 114 PC April/May 2021
Mole plough
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