The golf season is slowly winding down, but we are ramping up preparations for a long, cold and harsh winter...at least for the turf on our golf course. To succeed you need a plan, we have always felt that our winter preparation plan is very solid, but with a winter like 2014, we have found some room for improvement. Creating and maintaining a healthy plant going into the winter is our best chance at success and survival. Therefore all of the points of our plan are in someway related to ensuring and hardened, strong and resilient turf stand on our greens.
The Plan:
1. Increase in height of cut: Following Labour Day weekend we slowly raised the height of cut on our greens. During the summer months we mow at .100", we initially went up to .120" and have now gone to .140". Green speed has been maintained with rolling very successfully. After our next aeration event we will raise the height to .160". More leaf tissue allows the plant to absorb more sunlight as well as nutrition provided through the sprayer (both foliar and soluble applications).
2. Fertility: This fall we have increased our fertility rates and timing compared to other years. Our goal is to maintain as healthy a plant as possible. Focus in the fall has shifted from speed to health. Weekly foliar and/or soluble fertilizer applications have been alternated to continue and encourage carbohydrate storage for the winter.
3.Cultivation and Topdressing: Our biweekly topdressing program has continued throughout the fall. Our goal is to insulate the crown of the turf plant in sand, which will help protect the growing point in the turf from desiccation, ice cover damage and crown hydration. As part of our regular aeration program (scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 14th & Wednesday, Oct. 15th, weather permitting) we will be performing our core aeration, followed by heavy topdressing, deep verticut/slicing followed by another topdressing. Not only will this procedure remove a large amount of organic matter from our greens, but it will also create a number of channels for root growth, air movement to the root zone as well as drainage holes for water to travel prior to freezing. The final "aeration" step for our greens prior to winter is our bi-annual Deep Tine Aerification. Once the golf course is closed for play, we will heavily topdress our greens and then go over them with our Vertidrain/Deep Tine aerifier. This will again, create more channels for water to drain off of the greens surface during the winter. Another wonderful benefit to all of this cultivation is the extreme amount of compaction relief achieved. During these very wet seasons, our greens can become very compacted as a result of overly saturated conditions. With record setting rainfall totals for HCC this year, it is integral that we "reset the clock" going forward to 2015.
4.Greens Drainage and Collar Dams: This fall our drainage contractor TDS will be installing subsurface drainage on 2 greens (1 and 8) that were not done during the phasing in of the greens drainage project years ago. This project will help the management of these greens during the entire year, but with critical emphasis on both winter and summer. A "collar dam" is created by regular topdressing of greens where sand is dragged to the edges of greens. Once the sand accumulates in the collar it creates a "dam" that can stop water from running freely off of a green. This has happened on a number of our greens over time. This fall we will be removing the sod from certain areas, lowering the soil beneath and relaying the sod at a lower level to alleviate the restriction of water run off. Prior to winter we always remove sod strips to create trenches for run off, this helps as well and we will continue to do so.
5.Permeable Covers: This is a practice that we have always done for protection against wind desiccation. The winter of 2014 was so cold and windy that even some greens (with covers) sustained minor desiccation damage, I can only imagine how it could have been had we not covered them at all. An added bonus to covering greens is that it allows us to use equipment like snow blowers and loaders to remove snow if required with reduced risk of physical damage to the green itself.
6. Snow Removal: If required due to ice formation on our greens for an extended period of time, we will remove snow to help accelerate the melting process.
As with anything on the golf course lots of planning, cooperation from Mother Nature and a little luck is always helpful. There is still a month of golf left at HCC, let's all hope for more sunshine and good weather to finish off the year!
The Plan:
1. Increase in height of cut: Following Labour Day weekend we slowly raised the height of cut on our greens. During the summer months we mow at .100", we initially went up to .120" and have now gone to .140". Green speed has been maintained with rolling very successfully. After our next aeration event we will raise the height to .160". More leaf tissue allows the plant to absorb more sunlight as well as nutrition provided through the sprayer (both foliar and soluble applications).
2. Fertility: This fall we have increased our fertility rates and timing compared to other years. Our goal is to maintain as healthy a plant as possible. Focus in the fall has shifted from speed to health. Weekly foliar and/or soluble fertilizer applications have been alternated to continue and encourage carbohydrate storage for the winter.
3.Cultivation and Topdressing: Our biweekly topdressing program has continued throughout the fall. Our goal is to insulate the crown of the turf plant in sand, which will help protect the growing point in the turf from desiccation, ice cover damage and crown hydration. As part of our regular aeration program (scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 14th & Wednesday, Oct. 15th, weather permitting) we will be performing our core aeration, followed by heavy topdressing, deep verticut/slicing followed by another topdressing. Not only will this procedure remove a large amount of organic matter from our greens, but it will also create a number of channels for root growth, air movement to the root zone as well as drainage holes for water to travel prior to freezing. The final "aeration" step for our greens prior to winter is our bi-annual Deep Tine Aerification. Once the golf course is closed for play, we will heavily topdress our greens and then go over them with our Vertidrain/Deep Tine aerifier. This will again, create more channels for water to drain off of the greens surface during the winter. Another wonderful benefit to all of this cultivation is the extreme amount of compaction relief achieved. During these very wet seasons, our greens can become very compacted as a result of overly saturated conditions. With record setting rainfall totals for HCC this year, it is integral that we "reset the clock" going forward to 2015.
4.Greens Drainage and Collar Dams: This fall our drainage contractor TDS will be installing subsurface drainage on 2 greens (1 and 8) that were not done during the phasing in of the greens drainage project years ago. This project will help the management of these greens during the entire year, but with critical emphasis on both winter and summer. A "collar dam" is created by regular topdressing of greens where sand is dragged to the edges of greens. Once the sand accumulates in the collar it creates a "dam" that can stop water from running freely off of a green. This has happened on a number of our greens over time. This fall we will be removing the sod from certain areas, lowering the soil beneath and relaying the sod at a lower level to alleviate the restriction of water run off. Prior to winter we always remove sod strips to create trenches for run off, this helps as well and we will continue to do so.
5.Permeable Covers: This is a practice that we have always done for protection against wind desiccation. The winter of 2014 was so cold and windy that even some greens (with covers) sustained minor desiccation damage, I can only imagine how it could have been had we not covered them at all. An added bonus to covering greens is that it allows us to use equipment like snow blowers and loaders to remove snow if required with reduced risk of physical damage to the green itself.
6. Snow Removal: If required due to ice formation on our greens for an extended period of time, we will remove snow to help accelerate the melting process.
As with anything on the golf course lots of planning, cooperation from Mother Nature and a little luck is always helpful. There is still a month of golf left at HCC, let's all hope for more sunshine and good weather to finish off the year!
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