Module 3:

3.2 The need for certain activities

3.2.2 Aerating / forking

To make holes in the soil, allowing more air into the soil.

A typical spiker aerator for grassroots type pitches is one that is used on a combination frame (e.g. SISIS).

Another type of aerator is a disc aerator (e.g. Imants Rotoknife), which can range from shallow (50mm) to medium (150mm) depth.

Hand forking will only, typically, be carried out during the autumn and winter months. The main reason will be to help surface water drain away and also prior to localised sand dressings to help dry out a wet and often muddy surface.