Terrain Aeration were recently brought in by the local council in Church Stretton, Shropshire, to treat two croquet lawns, that had been placed on a hard surface and, over time, had become so compacted, they developed severe waterlogging problems.

“We chose to go with Terrain because we needed to open up the ground for better drainage,” says Michael Turner, the council’s amenities and services officer, “and with the ground being so hard it needed breaking up very much deeper than normal aeration.”

Terrain Aeration carried out the work over one and a half days, with their Terralift machine’s JCB hammer slicing through the compaction to allow the hollow probe to reach up to a metre under the lawns. Working on a staggered grid pattern, once the probe reaches the optimum depth, compressed air is released up to a maximum of 20Bar (280psi). The blast effect fractures the compacted soil to allow drainage and deep aeration, with the grid ensuring each shot interconnects the fissures and fractures. As the probe withdraws, dried seaweed is injected which expands and contracts with the moisture content in the soil to keep the fissures open. The probe holes are then back-filled with Lytag, an inert product which allows air and water to percolate through but is mower friendly.

Michael added, “The whole process was very clean and professional and Terrain Aeration were nice people to work with. We’ve done a further piece of work with scarification and the combination of the two is bringing the results we wanted. We’re very happy with the work done.”