Part of our winter preparation is to cover select greens with a special over-wintering tarp (see November 23 posting). We cover number 7 and 15 greens since these two have a history of developing ice most years. Ice is easier to break and remove from the greens surface when it is covered by an over-wintering tarp. If a green has a layer of ice and no cover to protect the surface there can be an increased chance of damaging the surface while trying to break up and remove the ice as well as exposing the turf to possible damage due to the continual freeze/thaw of the free water creating the ice. As mentioned in an older post, the tarps we used this year are slightly different than the tarps we have used in the past. These tarps have the ability to "breath" which is suppose to lessen the chance of
anoxia (again, see Nov. 23 posting). The following is a brief description of the process required to remove the ice and get the tarp of the green surface in the spring.
Ice Layer Over Tarp
Although the ice on 15 green was never any thicker than a couple inches is was still too thick to remove the entire surface with just shovels.
Aerator Breaking Ice
We used the aerator to shatter the ice and then used shovels to remove ice chunks from the tarp and ploughed the ice off the surface with the bobcat.
Bobcat, Aerator, and Shovels
The whole process took 2 guys one complete day to finish. My concern of the thin ice layer that I observed over the winter appears, at least for 15 green, to be unfounded since the surface appeared unharmed when we pulled back the tarp. Once the surface has dried and the grass begins to grow we will then know how the grass overwintered.
Exposed 15 Green
