Into March, and we have had a mild and dry month, leading some to worry about whether their courses will actually begin to dry out by the end of the month! Certainly, many greens are showing some signs of stress, particularly those possessing Poa annua, however this is most probably due to an increased nutrient requirement rather than environmental conditions.
March is the traditional start of spring and, with that, preparation for some spring renovation work will be foremost in most managers’ thought processes. With temperatures already around 10-13C, photosynthesis will be underway in most areas. By the end of the month, and leading into April, it is a good idea to put down a good starter fertiliser to try and kickstart growth, especially as temperatures begin to rise. This will help balance the amount of nutrients (NPK and trace elements) being absorbed from the soil by the turf. Remember that regular soil sampling will provide the best basis for fertiliser selection as we head into the growing season.
The invasion of moss within bare areas, partially caused by the extreme wet weather over the winter, has been the cause of much annoyance. An application of soluble iron sulphate, coupled with a scarification/verticutting pass once the moss has died off should provide some good results.
Vert-draining using solid tines to a good depth (preferably >8 inches) should help the roots to start chasing the moisture down the soil profile, providing the sward with a stronger root system, which is the foundation of plant growth success. Topdressing to level the surface, manage thatch levels and aid drainage is also recommended, making sure to fill the holes made without smothering the fine turf. A few passes with a dragmat or brush should provide good results.
It is also a good time of year to get into some good habits. Trimming around sprinkler heads, re-painting tee markers and even polishing bins can be little touches that can make your course stand out above others in your area.
Many courses with automatic irrigation systems may be thinking about flushing their system through, and therefore highlighting any potential maintenance that may be required, utilising time wisely before the growth really kicks in. In particular, it is important to check sprinkler arcs and to clean the heads, whilst also re-levelling with the playing surface where necessary.
It will also be essential to finish off any winter projects, before the onslaught of the main growing season.
Key Tasks for April
Maintenance
Choice of aeration varies between solid tine and hollow tine spiking depending on your goals, with the aim of getting some air back into the soil profile. This will be followed by topdressing with a compatible rootzone material.
Do not over do the topdressing rates, you do not want to smother your sward. The type of sand used in topdressings is vitally important, and you should be aware that most sand sales in the UK are for other uses. The sports turf market is small in comparison. So, be careful if you are offered cheap materials, as these are often finer, differ in shape, colour, lime content and are more interpacking than the sands specified for sports turf.
Cheap topdressings are often composed of sands with a wide range of particle sizes, when compressed they have a smaller total pore space than uniform sands. For golf, winter pitches and bowling greens, the dominant particle range in the sand should be medium sand (0.250mm to 0.5mm).
The amount of topdressing will vary dependant on your needs. However, in the spring you would be looking to spread between half to one and half tonnes of material per green (2 to 3mm of material per m2). Many Greenkeepers are now topdressing on a monthly basis, a little and often approach.
Feeding programmes should be determined by soil analysis. Obtaining nutrient levels for greens tees and fairways will provide essential information that can be used to help choose the appropriate fertiliser product for your given turf surface. There are a wide range of fertiliser products now available and tailored to stimulate healthy grass growth.
It is important that your mowing machines are serviced regularly and are set up accurately, ensuring that both the height of cut and blade sharpness are correct. Damaged blades affect sward quality.
Irrigation systems should have been tested and calibrated by now, there is a need to ensure that all sprinkler heads are working and delivering the appropriate amount of water to the turf.
Once these spring renovations are completed, you can then get on with the daily routines of maintenance.
Mowing
* Greens. Mowing height should be maintained at around 4-6mm.
* Tees. Mowing height should be maintained at around 10-15mm.
* Fairways. Mowing height should be maintained at around 15-20mm.
* Rough, Semi rough grass areas. Mow and tidy up these areas.
Ensure you clean your mowers after use (wash down or blow off ), ensure you apply some WD 40 or similar oil based lubricant on the cutting cylinder after washing down. Keeping them clean makes the job of checking cutting heights and maintaining the bottom blades easier.
Hole changing
Irrigation
You should calibrate your sprinklers at least once a year to ensure the spray pattern and coverage is sufficient for your needs. This can be done by placing out a number of catch cans on your green and measuring the amount of water collected. You may be surprised to find how much your sprinklers are actually delivering.
There may be a need to irrigate during spring renovation programmes, as air temperatures and daylight hours are getting longer, increasing the likelihood of the ground and surfaces drying out.
April is a good time to take soil samples, especially prior to end of season renovations and get them sent off for analysis, thus enabling you to get them back in time to start your new season's maintenance
Ideally, if you have not had one done before, you should have a full (PSD) Particle Size Distribution soil analysis done to tell you the actual make up of your soil profile. SoilTexturetriangle
Soil is made up of percentages of clay, silt and sand. The PSD Analysis will identify the ratio of these and confirm soil type, thus giving you a better understanding of what soil you are dealing with. Also, you can establish the amount of organic matter (OM) content as well as soil nutrient status and soil pH. With this information, you will be able to identify the needs of your soil.
Pitchcare have recently launched a new independent Soil Anaylsis service that enables you to get specific results for the soils you manage,Soil analysis is a means to discover what levels of nutrients are available to plants. There is an optimum for each plant nutrient and, when coupled with other properties such as soil structure and particle sizes, determine how vigorous your plants are. Different nutrients undertake different tasks within the plant.
If grass shows signs of stress (weak growth, discoloured), fertiliser treatment and turf tonic can be continued in accordance with your annual programme. Most greenstaff will be applying a spring/summer N P K fertiliser, perhaps something like a 12/0/9 or 9/7/7 will effectively get the grass moving during April, then towards the end of April/early May applying a slow release fertiliser to see you through June/July. However, the choice of material and how well it works can be dependant on many factors - soil type, weather, with moisture and and air temperature being the catalyst for growth.
There are a number of greenkeepers now using compst tea formulations to help improve the fertility of their greens , encouraging more microbiale activity in their soils, and reducing the amount of Nitrogen being applied. These compost teas are brewed on site and applied on a monthly basis along with a number of other bio stimulants.
Take care when applying fertilisers, you do not want to be over dosing or over lapping which will cause you problems. Calibrate your spreaders and sprayers before use and choose the correct nozzles/aperture settings for the product being used.
Keep an eye on fungal disease attack and use approved fungicides to treat infected areas.
The traditional method of moss control utilised the use of lawn sand and other cultural practices.
As with anything else in turf, a preventative approach is often better than a curative or responsive approach. Ensuring a minimisation of bare areas throughout the growing season, whilst keeping in control of thatch is essential. As moss is an advantageous species, the important thing is to try and ensure a competitive growth habit by the individual grass plants. Ground coverage, especially heading into the winter, is therefore essential.
What else can be done to reduce the risk of moss invasion/establishment?
• Ensure adequate irrigation without over-watering. Many sports complexes around the country utilise an automatic irrigation system. In periods of stress, it would be advisable to water thoroughly, but to requirement. Over-watering can lead to other unwanted problems.
• Find a balance in mowing height. Particularly in golf and bowls, mowing height plays a significant part in how the ball reacts with the surface. Ensuring you can find a balanced mowing height to allow good coverage without affecting playing quality is important in all sports in terms of moss reduction.
• Reduce thatch. The utilisation of controlled frequency verticutting and deep scarification during periods of good recovery will reduce the organic content within the thatch layer. Reducing this moisture holding ability within the O horizon of the soil is very important in moss control.
• Aeration, aeration, aeration. As with anything in a sports surface, ensuring the best aeration will help provide a competitive grass sward. As mosses prefer compacted, moist soils, reducing the compaction and increasing drainage ability is a great tool in reducing the efficacy of moss invasion.
• Removal of surrounding causes of shade. In areas that are prone to moss, look around the area and whether anything can be done to reduce the shade/increase direct light levels (e.g. removal of tree limbs etc). As mentioned previously, moss is highly competitive in shade over grass.
• Overseeding. Overseeding in the autumn is recommended due to a more reliable amount of moisture and mild temperatures promoting early germination and establishment. Ensuring good establishment could be key in increasing coverage as you head into winter, particularly in known bare areas.
• A balanced fertiliser programme.
Obviously, with all of these control methods it’s important to strike a balance between the needs of your customers/visitors and the effective control of moss. Following this sort of integrated approach in general should provide an excellent basis for the production of quality surfaces. Therefore, the effective control of moss could/should occur as a by-product of solid greenkeeping techniques.
Having a good wash down facility is an essentail tool for keeping equipment clean, there are a number of companires who spcialise in the installtion of these facilites.
In recent years, we have also seen clubs investing in there own grinding machines for keeping there mowers sharp, running mowers with sharp blades improves the quality of cut and ensures the plant is kept stress free.
Pitchcare provide a range of courses suitable for golf courses. In most cases, the courses can be held on site using the club's own equipment and machinery.
Some of the courses available are:
Chainsaws - CS30 and CS31
H&S Refresher Training on Combined Turf Care Equipment; Tractors and Trailers; All Mowers (Ride-on and Pedestrian)
Machinery Courses on ATVs; Tractors: Brushcutters/Strimmers; Mowers (ride-on and Pedestrian)
Pesticide Application (PA courses)
Stem Injection of Invasive Species (Japanese Knotweed etc.)
Basic Trees Survey and Inspection
More details about all the courses can be found here, or you can email Chris Johnson for information.
Ponds, lakes and streams - Inspect all water features on course, cleaning out any unwanted debris and litter. Some clubs arrange for their ponds to be dredged to clean them out while at the same time recovering any stray golf balls.
Tee boxes, tee markers and competition markers should be inspected daily, cleaned and moved to new tee positions as required.
Inspect and remove debris from playing surfaces - litter, twigs and leaves. Regularly empty litter bins/tee boxes.
Mark out trolley areas, out of bound site areas, ground under repair (GUR) and range markings.
Estimate and order seed, loams and fertilisers, fuels and other consumables.
