Plugging Away...

We have been putting a few plugs on some greens in the few weak areas we had around some of our edges.  This is a tedious process that has to be done perfect.  The first thing we do is take some hexagon shaped plugs from a nursery green.

After we have the fresh plugs, we cut hex plugs out of the bad areas on the green that need to be replaced.

After the bad area is cut out, we replace it with the new hex plugs.

Once the new plugs are in, we top dress the area with green sand.  After everything is perfectly level and topdressed, we roll and water the plugs.

Plugging areas usually has better long term results than sod.  The reason for this is, with plugs, we are able to get a larger amount of the root system.  With sod the roots are cut very shallow and the turf seems to struggle more in the summer.  Even though it is a little more tedious to work with hex plugs, it will be better in the long run.