Sand-Aid produces putting, teeing, and playing surfaces that are superior in:

• Playability
• Appearance
• Ability to tolerate intense stress
• Ability to withstand disease
• Maintainability

Why Sand-Aid is the Optimal Organic Constituent:

• Reduces nutrient leaching and water losses in sandy soils. Holds and releases more moisture than any other natural organic material.
• Reduces both fertilisation and irrigation expenses. More effective nutrient and moisture holding capacity than peat.
• Improves soil fertility and fertiliser utilisation. Highest cation exchange capacity of any natural organic amendment.
• Stimulates microbial activity. Extraordinarily rich source of micronutrients and trace elements, chelated by the natural sea plant sugar, mannitol.
• Scientifically proven. Tested by leading university researchers.
• Promotes flocculation in heavier soils. Sand-Aid is a polyelectrolyte and can help clay particles form soil aggregates.
• Won't layer. Sand-Aid has the fastest decomposition rate of any commercially available organic material.
• Exceptionally cost effective. Often pays for itself with savings from irrigation and fertilisation. Sand-Aid costs 1/3 less per unit CEC than peat.
• Environmentally safe; non-toxic; non-contaminating and completely biodegradable.

The microbiology of sand, and why it requires a fast-decomposing organic amendment
While high sand content topdressing clearly offers many advantages, it is not without problems. And some of those problems can be very troublesome.

Diseases like pythium root dysfunction and curvularae occur only in sand. Why? "Sand has a weaker, thinner microbiology," says Iowa State's Dr. Clinton F. Hodges. High sand content greens and tees are much more vulnerable to certain diseases because they have lower levels of microbial populations that are naturally antagonistic to invading pathogens.

According to a recent New York State Turf Grass Association Bulletin, "Take-all Patch attacks bentgrass more frequently on sandy soils…These soils lack the resident populations that are antagonistic to G.graminis - the fungus that is the causal agent of Take-all Patch." Similarly, Summer Patch, caused by a root-infecting fungus, is more prevalent on sandy soils.

No natural or synthetic soil amendment stimulates microbial activity faster or better than Sand-Aid. Because of its very favourable carbon to nitrogen ratio and because it contains almost no complex carbon structures like lignin, cellulose or hemicellulose, Sand-Aid is the fastest decomposing soil amendment available. For the same reasons, it can be safely incorporated in high sand topdressing programs without "layering."

Sand-Aid maximises fertiliser efficiency, Optimises irrigation efficiency, and keeps nutrients and moisture in the root zone longer
If you've used Sand-Aid, you know it significantly increases both moisture and nutrient retention. That's because the naturally-occurring carbohydrate, alginic acid (which makes up about 26% of Sand-Aid's dry weight analysis), emulsifies in sand, greatly reducing both water losses and nutrient leaching. It helps keep other major and micro nutrient fertilisers in the root zone longer.

The ability of the soil to exchange cations is a measure of its potential fertility. Sand-Aid has the highest cation exchange capacity (CEC) of any natural organic product.

Sand-Aid is also an extraordinary source of nutrients. It contains every major, secondary and micronutrient known to play a role in turfgrass establishment and growth. It's the richest known source of trace elements - all of which are chelated by the natural sea plant sugar, mannitol. So Sand-Aid not only provides significant holding capacity but is itself an outstanding nutrient source. Clearly, it's an exceptionally cost effective product to use.

Favourable Cost Benefit Impact
Since Sand-Aid makes other amendments and fertilisers far more efficient, it can often pay for itself through fertiliser and irrigation savings. Sand-Aid can have very significant cost benefits for your golf course.

But the most important reason to incorporate Sand-Aid in your aerifying and topdressing programs may be its ability to improve tolerance to extreme environmental and cultural stresses.

Research conducted over several seasons at Michigan State University found:

• "Sand-Aid clearly improved turf quality as well as stress tolerance when used as an additive in topdressing and aerifying programs."
   
• "Sand-Aid's effectiveness also increased over time and the more intense the stress, the more obvious the differences were between treated and untreated areas."

Sand-Aid can make a dramatic difference in turfgrass stress tolerance. Greens and tees treated with Sand-Aid play better, look better, and also have vastly superior stress tolerance.

Playability and Stress Tolerance
Faster greens require lower mowing heights. Lower mowing heights require more extensive root systems. More extensive root systems require higher rates of potassium, micro-nutrients and trace elements, all of which leach rapidly in sand.

Sand-Aid's emulsifying action significantly reduces both nutrient leaching and water losses. Moreover, it's an exceptional source of chelated micronutrients and trace elements. So it's ideally suited to today's more finely-tuned fertility and irrigation regimes.

Greens and tees with superior playing characteristics require superior stress tolerance characteristics. Simply put, greens and tees that incorporate Sand-Aid have higher stress tolerance thresholds. They will withstand more severe environmental stresses like high and low temperatures and drought. And, they will tolerate more culturally induced stresses like those associated with lower mowing heights and faster greens.

Sand-Aid's unique characterisics make it especially effective
All granular sea plant meals are not created equal. Our product is a unique blend of North Atlantic sea plants harvested in carefully regulated cycles and produced using a proprietary process to preserve the most beneficial constituents.

Moreover, our state-of-the-art drying process dramatically increases product purity and shelf life.

Similarly, we filter out the fine powdery particles in our production process as well as the coarse, larger particles so that professional turf managers have a more homogenous material with which to work. There are so many other significant differences that make Sand-Aid so ideal for golf course and sporting turf applications.