Greens Aerification
This week we will be
doing an aggressive aerification to the greens. It is our plan to do a double
aerification to help reduce the amount of organic material present in the top 3
inches of the greens. We know this can provide between 20 and 27 percent
displacement in the soil profile. We had been discussing doing a single
aerification now and then a double in October. However due to the recovery we
are seeing on the greens and the rooting getting much better we have decided to
do the double aerification now. This will aide in creating a better soil
condition for seeding bentgrass into the worst areas on the greens. We will be
doing all we can with rolling the greens and heavy topdressing to get the
greens as smooth as possible following this process. We are anticipating the
process taking 4 days. This double aerification is time consuming to do it
correctly. Tropical Storm Irma has already
caused a delay in the process. On Monday, the 11th the team was only able to
get 6 greens completed with the first aerification before the rain began. No
work was accomplished on the 12th. We will keep you posted on the
progress once we can begin again.
What to Expect
To help us insure
that we get a good stand of bentgrass we will be watering the greens lightly
throughout the day to keep the seedbed moist. We will be raising the height of
cut so that once the seeds have germinated and the roots are long enough to
hold the plant in place we will begin mowing. We will be fertilizing to push
all the grass to fill in, with extra applied to the seeded areas to push them to
fill in even faster. The greens will be shaggy and slow as we work to get the
plants as healthy as possible going into the fall.
Why
Last year on
September 22nd we toured the course and on the 23rd met
with your representatives and began the process for us to become your
maintenance partner. We knew there were issues with the amount of organic
matter in the top 3 inches of the greens. We did the March aerification of the
greens and were happy with the results but they would not have taken a double
aerification. As we approached the end of June we began to see some disease
appear and these were treated rapidly, but as preventative we sent out samples
to verify the disease, Dr. Bruce Martin, at Clemson University let us know we
had high populations of Nematodes. These are microscopic worms that feed on the
roots of the grass. We treated for these as well as began routine venting of
the greens to help get more air into the rootzone. As soon as the Invitational
was over we did a ¼” quad tine aerification of the greens. This was followed up
with weekly venting and some weeks two ventings in the same week. The last 10
days of July saw over 10 inches of rain and heat indices of over 110 for
several days. This combination of excess moisture and hot temperatures was not
allowing the top 3 inches of the greens to dry. Because of this they soil
became anerobic and a black layer began to form. We did a 3/8th in
aerification to try and dry the down and to get air into the roots zone to
eliminate the anerobic condition. At the same time, we stopped applying any
water if the moisture levels were above 20%. We also tipped the fans to force
more air over the surface of the greens and used our large blower as a fan to
cool the surface of the greens rather than syringing with water. These efforts
allowed us to stop the decline that was occurring in the turf and with the help
of cooler weather began a recovery.
We need to reduce
the impact of the organic matter in the top 3 inches and aggressive
aerification is the method we are using to achieve that result. This is a
process and will take years for us to eliminate amount needed to allow us to
better manage the air levels in the soil. If the weather is good in November we
will be doing another aerification. We are then looking to do 2 more in the
spring of next year as well as additional aerifications and ventings thru the
rest of the year. We recognize aerification is a disruptive process but it is
necessary for us to be able to manage the greens in the summer stress periods. This is our method of cultivation. Farmers and
gardeners typically plow or till the soil prior to planting. We have a crop
that cannot be plowed or tilled. We will make you aware of the dates and plans
for each event.
We have also created
a Blog for Musgrove Country Club and will begin posting more information and
pictures to this page. The link is http://gmsmusgrovecc.blogspot.com/
This is a plug from #16 green. The plug on the left is what the greens should look like all the way to the grass. The plug on the right is why we need to aerify so aggressively.
We will add a picture to this near September 22nd. Stay Tuned...
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