Fall Is the Time To Correct Soil Deficiencies

Late in the summer, we took a bunch of soil tests on our greens.  We found a dramatic difference between the soil greens on Seaside and the USGA sand greens on Newport. Correcting nutrient deficiencies takes a lot of work and perseverance.  The hope is to have the greens reasonably balanced within the next 18 months to two years.  Balancing the soils primary goal is to make your good greens, great greens.  Today, we applied Phosphorous and Magnesium to Newport greens. Next week, we will apply Potassium and Gypsum.  The best times to safely correct deficiencies is spring and fall.  Taking advantage of aerification holes is another way to correct deficiencies.   As an example to balance the Magnesium on Newport greens, it will take the equivalent of 4 pounds of Magnesium per 1000 square feet.  The only Magnesium supplement for greens is PROMAG, which is 36% Magnesium.  So we need to apply about 12 pounds of PROMAG over the next year.

Bermudagrass Update

I wanted to write about the progress of the Midlawn Bermudagrass.  This year, through my hiring and the visits by the USGA, a commitment was made to grow bermudagrass on Newport Bay.  To recp, we sprayed the firways with Revolver EXCEPT parts of 3,5,8,9, 11, 14, 17 and 18.  Revolver completely kills all cool season grasses within the bermuda.  We then scalped the bermuda and began an aggressive fertilizing program.  The results have been outstanding.  With some tree removal and some selective sodding, I believe we will achieve outstanding results.  The bermuda exceeded my expectation on #8, 9 and 18.  The plan going forward is to embrace the tan.  The first week of September, we seeded 3 passes around the bermudagrass with a blend of perennial ryegrass and turf type tall fescue.  The hope is this ring will highlight our nice fairways.  I have raised the height of cut on the fairways, so there is more grass blade going into winter, for protection.  YES, there will still be some ryegrass, bentgrass that will come up within the bermuda.  We have applied the herbicide BARRICADE to the fairways for poa annua.  The goal is 75% control.  We will then apply ROUNDUP at 32 oz/acre in late winter to clean them up.  This process is ongoing.  One year will not solve all of our issues.  They will be less and less over time.

Seaside Tee Corrections

Some of the tees on Seaside gave us some problems this summer.  A look underground gives us a clue as to the extent of the problem.  The layer of thatch can be seen where my knife is pointed, up to just below the green leaf blades.  The excess thatch dries out quickly, causing localized dry spots.  then when we rewet the dry spots, the wet thatch acts to hold in the summer heat, boiling the root systems of the cool season grass.  We began an aggressive thatch removal this past week.  Over time, this will manage this problem.  This also can cause turf disease, so proper maintenance can save money.  Remember, verticutting is like a major surgery.  You arent ready to run a maarathon after having heart surgery do you?

Greens Maintenance

Awhile back I posted photosof the solid greens rollers we switched to to lessen the stress on the greens for July and August.  With the cooler nights, we are transforming back into a more intense maintenance mode.  Our aerification went well and generally healed well.  The only exceptions are 5 Newport and 14 Seaside.  Notice BOTH greens are surrounded by trees.  We will try to remedy this more this winter.  We placed the heavy grooved rollers back on the greens mowers after Irene's wetness subsided.  We then set our new verticutters at a 1/16 inch depth.  We mowed two ways removing the excess mat and stolons created by the solid rollers.  To me it is just a part of normal Mid Atlantic maintenance.  The hope is you will understand how we go to great lengths to protect the greens in July and August.  The result is a fast healing aerification and better greens when the weather cooperates.  Here is a close up of the verticut blades.

More Irene Pictures

We Were Lucky This Time!

I am pleased to post we have appeared to have lost zero trees to Hurricane Irene.  I kept dumping my personal rain gauge and had a grand total of 9.1 inches.  That means over 1.5 trillion gallons of water was dumped on OCGC!  Here are some pictures I took this afternoon.  The main issue will be tidal flooding and how soon we can mow turf areas without damaging them. 

Why Do You Water During the Daytime?

As the summer progresses, the root systems (particularly on Seaside) become very short.  We try to encourage root growth in the fall and spring.  The tiny grass plants survive on these root systems.  In May, roots average about 4 inches in depth.  Now, the roots are 1-2 inches on Seaside and 1-6 inches on Newport.  The shortest roots are on the greens that are shaded or in pocketed areas. 

As the roots shrink in size and as the humidity starts to drop, wilt occurs rapidly now.  Now, you will see the greens heads pop on for 1-2 minutes.  The goal is to cool the turf and slow down the loss of water (a term called ET).  The upper 1-2 inches of soil need to be kept moist for the plants to survive.   So when you see heads running this time of year on greens, it usually is to slow down some wilt.