Not Exactly Routine

Previous to last week I was trying to get a few unusual tasks out of my hair so I could focus on more traditional spring maintenance. With winter winding down we needed to get a pumper truck and rubber tire back hoe out on the course before the ground got too soft from all the melting snow. Back in the beginning of February I ploughed a road to the restroom on #7 as well as to the snack shack. With the ground being unfrozen under the snow this year I needed to expose areas so they could freeze and handle the weight of the equipment I needed to bring on the golf course

Driver weaving the "Honey Wagon" through the trees

All restrooms located on the golf course are on septic and of the 3 tanks only one had been pumped in my time there.

Sucking out the tank

During the process we discovered a problem in one of the tanks.  A root ball had grown inside the tank at the snack shack and had broken off.  Potentially, the "floater" could plug the inlet or discharge side of the tank so we made the choice to dig up the septic tank lid and remove the root ball (it was too big to fit through the access port).

Betcha' didn't know that is where the septic is!

Goo and Root

Removing root ball...carefully!

The snow was too deep to get to #12 but with cart paths on either side of that particular restroom we should be able pump out that septic most any time.  That same week we began limbing the tree that blew over on 6 fwy and I cut off the root ball had a back hoe come in and haul it off the course.

Knocking of excess before hauling it away

By the end of week we'd finished most of the bull work with minimal disruption from either the pumper truck or either back hoes and I began to remove snow off #7 and #15 greens. I needed to knock down the snow on #15 with black sand to make removing the snow more manageable. It's still a work in progress but I was able to clear #7 and remove the tarp. Much to my dismay there was disease under tarp, again! It's no where near as bad as last year but it's far from perfect. The worst part is as I began to see other greens open up I saw more signs of disease so I've spent the last 5 days removing snow from all greens in a hope to lessen the severity of the disease. I'll keep you informed once I get all greens cleared and things dry out.

AGM and the Links I Promised

Follow this link USGA article to see the full article I kept referencing at the AGM.  Whether you'll get any more information I'm not sure but take look.  Another article I had with me is one from Penn state.  Follow this green speed link to read it.  It is a general outline of some of the common maintenance practices for affecting green speed.  Read that one also if you're interested but keep in mind that, as I referenced at the AGM (I think?), we have some challenges, hurdles, limitations, etc., etc. that influence the degree these practices can be implemented at KGC.  None of these challenges, hurdles, limitations, etc., etc. are insurmountable but at present the club doesn't necessarily have all the required resources to overcome these challenges, hurdles, limitations, etc., etc.

Don't forget these pictures:

2 Green Roots 

5 Green Roots

When we're dealing with this degree of variation (remember the more roots you have the better the turf can handle stress while little or no roots makes just keeping things alive a challenge) you have to gauge the maintenance practices to the weakest link.  

                    

Fall Greens Aeration

This week had us bring in accessories from the course and start to get ready for the winter.  We did some fall treatments but the weather is not great (lots of rain in forecast and 1" of rain on Friday night!) so I am trying to hold off but as we get closer to November and the colder the temperature gets I may have no choice but to spray and hope the rain stops.

We completed aerating all greens on Friday with the Verti-Drain as is the tradition.  One thing I do in the fall as a pre-aeration survey is go to each green and pull a plug to see what kind of roots we finished off with.  As is always the case this is a huge disappoint but it can also be helpful.

2 Green

5 Green

I think I've said it before, but showing pictures of your roots is sort of like posting pictures of yourself in your underwear; i.e. no more secrets, its out there for all to see.  In my case I think it could be used for good instead of humiliation.  As you can see we have greens with roots barely over one inch and others with more than four inches.  A bulk of them fall into the 2 to 3 inch range.  I am going to reference the rooting situation in later posts, especially as it relates to making maintenance decision in the summer but for this time out the I want to explaining the importance of root depth and how it impacts the greens aeration in the fall.

Père Noël on the Verti-Drain

Short lesson:  aeration from a Verti-Drain (in the manner we did this fall) is more for compaction relief, especially at depths greater than a more traditional aeration.

Pre Aeration Depth

Post Aeration Depth

The tine in the preceding pictures is 10" long and in the first picture I can only push it in about 4" but after aeration the soil has been loosened enough that the tine easily penetrates to a depth of 8".  Notice that the tine is in between the holes.  This shows the real benefit of this type of aeration in loosening the entire soil profile and not just the area where the tine leaves a hole.  Anyways, the importance of knowing the condition of the root zone before aeration helps when we decide what depth to aerate and whether or not to add "kick" (this aerator can be set to give a little "oomph" at the bottom of its stroke to further loosen the soil).  We've found out the hard way the greens with shallow roots really don't like a deep Verti-Drain aeration and really don't like kick.  Greens like 2, 7, and 12 were the worst this fall so instead of a deep tine we went traditional and pulled a core with the hopes of increasing roots mass since, for these greens, relieving compaction past the rooting depth of one inch seems silly.  There is lots more to discuss here but maybe later.

Yellow and Red; The Colors of Fall

You may think I am referencing leaf color but in this circumstance I am referring to the painted marks on the fairways.  If you've golfed since Friday you will have noticed dinner plate sized paint marks on the fairways.  We do this for 2 reasons.  One is to mark the heads so staff members can trim around them since after a seasons growth the irrigation heads start to get covered by turf (especially after a year like this one which turned out to be a good year to grow grass!).  The second reason relates more the seasonal reference.  Starting next week we begin preparing for the end of the season.  The first task this year will be aerating the fairways before the final fertilization in mid to early September.  Cool season turf has two growth stages throughout the year and we are in the second.  Cooler days are more suited for root development and soil temperatures anywhere between 50 and 65 degrees F (or 10 to 18 degrees C) aid in root growth versus the hot days associated with summer.  Other factors influencing root growth are soil moisture and oxygen.  After a season of traffic from play and maintenance the soil tends to "tighten up" and limit oxygen and water movement.  When we aerate we are increasing oxygen within the root zone and ensuring that water reaches the roots where both are needed to encourage root growth (mass and depth).  A healthy root system will better be able to make use of soil nutrients from fertilization and natural organic matter breakdown.  Ultimately, it is the nutrient uptake which, in combination with photosynthesis, helps create and store carbohydrates (CHO) that the turf needs to recover next spring.  The more tools and time we give the turf to create CHO's the better the chances of success in the spring... maybe... (Oops!  I forgot to explain the red and yellow marks as they relate to aeration.  It is to make it easier for the guy operating the aerator to see the heads)

Green Measles

If you've been lucky enough to get golfing in between snow days last week you may have noticed green dots on some of the greens:

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Those dots are indicative of the turfs response to aeration. Aeration will come up lots and there is always plenty to talk about but for now I wanted to show the obvious benefits of aerating greens. Everybody knows that plants leaves absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen (photosynthesis) but sometimes people forget that the plants also need to absorb oxygen to make the energy (respiration) for cellular reactions occur. I am going to be fast and loose with the facts but a fairly "true" statement is all parts of the plant need to absorb oxygen in order for the plant to survive. Roots absorb oxygen to help fuel the transportation of nutrients into and throughout the plant. Some nutrition can be foliar absorbed but strong, healthy turf needs a strong, healthy, functioning root system. Each green dot seen in the first picture is the exact spot where an aerator tine penetrated the turf and left behind a open column down which water and air can travel. I used a cup cutter to "slice" through one of these columns to reveal the growth of roots over five inches deep on a mostly Poa annua green. If you look back to "Bent vs. Poa" post in February you can see pictures of Poa annua roots that are barely two inches. If you double click the following picture you can get a better look. Yeah, I know it is not a great picture but for this green, number 7, that is pretty impressive. You'll just have to take my word for it.

Bent Vs. Poa

Slowly winter is disappearing on the golf course. Traditionally, we would have 10-14 inches of snow. As of this week there is any where from 5-7 inches with lots of south facing slopes and areas around certain trees already exposed. We are keeping an eye on the surfaces and have not seen any more ice develop. The crusty layer referenced in January 23 post has actually lost some of its cohesiveness and is removed with very little effort.

I removed a plug from 9 green about 10 days ago from the back right (a cold shady corner).In the above picture the different colors are due to the mixture of bent grass and Poa. I pulled a core that had both grass species to compare how they would green up.The thing to note is the different tissue colors and the yellow on the left edge of the plug. It is subtle but the blue/green grass blades are Bent grass. The yellow and lime green grass blades are Poa. What this suggests is the Poa may be slow to get going this spring.

To survive the winter and start spring growth grass plants depend on carbohydrate reserves that are accumulated in the fall and stored in the roots. Poa has many good characteristics, however, deep rooting is not one. To explain this point I took plugs from 18 Green.

(A short history first: when we had ice damage in 2008 and had to sodded 18 green. We trenched in a drain from the low spot where ice develops to a catch basin off in the rough.Within the trench we installed a drain tile and a length of heat tape. Each fall we have to find the end of the drain tile we buried under the green so we can have a way to drain any water that may develop under the snow. In an effort to keep the playing surface consistent we sodded the ice damaged area with Poa except for a small chunk of Bent grass which is marking the end of the drain tile under the green surface.)

The following picture shows a Poa plug at the top and a bent plug at the bottom.The interesting part is underneath the surface. The following picture shows the root zone of the Poa plug that existed at the end of October in 2009; unfortunately, fairly typical for most greens. This next picture is the root zone of the bent grass plug
There can be a number of different causes affecting root growth such as light availability, traffic, growing medium, fertility, soil structure and height of cut. What the two previous pictures demonstrate is the importance of grass species when it comes to root development. Remember, these two plugs were directly adjacent to one another so they would experience the exact same conditions. The only difference is one plug is bent the other Poa.

Going back to this spring: with such a small root mass, Poa is not very resilient to multiple stresses. As I mentioned in the December 12 post last falls weather played havoc with the fall preparations needed to help turf overwinter in best possible condition. The plug from 9 green maybe a forewarning of what exists on the rest of the greens. The most important thing now is to get the Poa growing without any extra stress like multiple freeze thaws, ill-timed temperature drops, or early traffic.