What is “scarifying”? Will it help your clay courts?
Recently, I’ve been having conversations with Club owners/managers, and I’m hearing some common questions about sub-irrigation systems, one is, what does “scarifying” mean? Will it resolve the drier areas of the clay court most compacted by year-round play?
There are several techniques typically considered ‘scarification’ or used in conjunction to address so called ‘hard pan’ issues: One is, using the lute or steel brooming the court, which is, in a fashion, a form of scarifying. (This is more of a regular maintenance approach) The second is using a machine tool or scrapping device, to remove from the entire court surface an amount of the clay, frequently defined as ‘dead material’, to a depth of 1/16 of an inch. Scrape it off, remove it, and add one ton of HarTru material, two ton for sprinkler system, per court. Another alternate concept, that had been used to address the heavily compacted surface is to use a hydro-jet injection device (principally a maintenance tool from the golf course) which can help in allowing water to raise to the surface, through the holes made from the injection device and then scarify the surface and add material.
Each of these protocols have their uses and are appropriate for overhead watered clay courts and HydroCourts, that are shut down in winter. In Southern California, and similar climates, where the clay courts are played on year round, these clay courts provide different maintenance challenges.
To address this, we first need to understand the difference that the winter frost has on clay courts in those environments, which is, to expand during the freezing and thawing cycle, and thereby, preventing an ever increasing compaction to a greater depth of the playing surface. The traditional surface scarification can resolve the problem under these conditions. Though adding more material every year, creates its own set of problems.
Whereas, in regions of California, where we have the benefit of year round play, the clay court playing surface is under constant pressure. Over time, this court will become increasingly and more deeply compacted. Which is to say, “The particles of surfacing material are pressed closer together in a smaller space, the bulk density increases, porosity decreases, and the water infiltration and water retention rates decrease.” [1]. The process of scarification, as previously described, are not adequate to resolve this issue under these conditions.
Recall the problem, the court is compacted at a greater depth, and moisture can no longer efficiently raise to the surface to provide a uniformly moist court. As the court(s) is played on without annual/seasonal scarification, as in the East Coast, we must have a different approach to resolve this issue.
The best prescription, using specially designed tools, developed by HydroCourt, USA, to successfully mitigate this natural and predictable problem, is to de-compact the entire playing surface of the court, to a depth of one-inch (the depth of the HarTru material playing surface), re-blend the HarTru material and in the end, provide a clay court that will function like new again.
If your court isn’t in a climate that freezes over providing for an off season and therefore annual maintenance protocols , it won’t remain responsive to the capillary affect that is the brilliance of a HydroCourt. The superficial/topical form of scarifying can absolutely be appropriate in particular climates in reducing “compaction”. But, not in Southern California, where we have the opportunity to play year-round.
HydroCourts are a great asset to your Club’s facilities and to your membership, including year-round play and water conservation. Not to mention, lower maintenance costs: no down time for re-watering and heavy rolling, to keep the court playable and not to dry in the afternoons, as with overhead sprinklers systems. If your court is located in Southern California, like me and the courts I maintain and renovate, this is a factor you’ll need to understand, so as to anticipate for periodic maintenance and the continued enjoyment of your Club’s membership for the high standards they have come to expect and deserve.
1: Ed MonteCalvo, HarTru: March, 2005, Tennis Industry Association http://www.tennisindustrymag.com/articles/2005/03/new_solutions_for_surface_comp.html
