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My Turf Is Stressed And So Am I

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My Turf is Stressed and So Am I Golf Industry Show – San Diego, CA 9 February 2016 Adam Moeller │Agronomist │ USGA Green Section │ Northeast Region Winter Injury Isn’t New Slide | 2 Types of Winter Injury 1. 2. 3. 4. Crown hydration Direct Cold Temperature Injury Ice encasement/suffocation Desiccation • Basic Things to Remember – Poa much more susceptible to all types of injury – Drainage and shade increase injury potential Slide | 3 Crown Hydration Slide | 4 LT50 Cold Temperature Kill • Poa -6°F (field 5-6°F ?) • Perennial ryegrass 5°-10° F • Poa rapidly dehardens • Kentucky bluegrass -6° - -18° F when subjected to 36-40 F for 48 hrs • Creeping bentgrass -31° F Slide | 5 Winter Injury Prevention Slide | 8 Cold Temperature Hardiness • Maximize temperature hardiness in fall • Late winter/early spring critical – Plant loses CHO’s and hardiness – Hydrates, commonly with freeze/thaws – Rapid and severe temp drop often lethal Slide | 9 Maximizing Cold Temperature Hardiness • Eliminate shade – Improve photosynthesis – Reduce early afternoon shade (i.e. sudden drop in temps) Slide | 10 Maximizing Cold Temperature Hardiness • Slightly raise height of cut to improve photosynthesis and produce CHO’s more efficiently • Start early (mid-October) • 0.150 inches? • Using rolling alone instead of mowing occasionally Slide | 11 Maximizing Cold Temperature Hardiness • Fertilization should be done to stimulate and support CHO storage • Avoid excessive N in fall which would force shoot growth at the expense of CHO storage Slide | 12 Maintain soil K ≈100 ppm Slide | 13 Maximizing Cold Temperature Hardiness • Irrigate sparingly in fall to reduce plant hydration • Utilize programs to improve internal drainage Slide | 14 Late Fall Topdressing • 1.5-2 cu. ft. per/M Slide | 15 • Late Fall Deep Tine or Drill and Fill Slide | 16 Slide | 17 Eliminate Collar Dams Slide | 18 12 inch Sod Cut? Slide | 19 Sand Channel Drainage Slide | 20 • Dry wells • Connect to drainage Slide | 21 Greens Covers – Are They The Solution? GCM October 2010 Slide | 22 Winter Protection Covers • Stabilize temps and keep water out Slide | 23 Covering Systems • Used to prevent plant hydration and ice encasement • Types of Covers Covering systems are not always 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Slide | 24 effective but they can improve the odds Sand topdressing for success! Permeable Impermeable alone (need dependable snowpack) Permeable + impermeable Permeable + insulation + impermeable (insulating cover system) Impermeable Cover Challenges • When to cover? – If too early interfere with hardening. – Wait too long? Snow cover/frozen ground – After fungicide/rodent repellent treatments. • When to remove? – General consensus remove sooner than later Slide | 25 Expense Labor intensive Durability Storage Potential problems during extended periods of mild mid-winter weather • Difficult to document benefits • • • • • Image: R. Ackermann Not All Covers Are the Same Slide | 26 Monitor Soil Temperatures Slide | 27 Impermeable Cover System Case Study - Toronto 1. Bubble wrap insulation 2. Pipes for oxygen 3. Impermeable covers Initial investment ≈ $40,000 Annual costs ≈ $18,000 Slide | 28 “We have damage, likely 3 temps for a few weeks and 3 more short term temps. If we didn’t have the cover system it would have been much much worse” Slide | 29 Permeable Covers Slide | 30 Fabric Bunker Liners Under Permeable Covers Slide | 31 Best Management Practices 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Increase sunlight Raise mowing height Implement fertility programs to promote turf health Adjust surface and/or internal drainage Use windbreaks for areas prone to desiccation Apply an anti-desiccant Use cover systems if there is a history of damage Increase creeping bentgrass populations Slide | 32 Managing Snow and Ice Call Your Regional Agronomist Slide | 33 Slide | 34 Recovery Slide | 35 Install a Temporary Green Slide | 36 Irrigation • Weak turf may bounce back • Light, frequent irrigation Slide | 38 Create a Seedbed • • • • • • • Many options Close center core aeration Verticutting in 2-3x directions Slice seeding (e.g. Turfco Tri-Wave 40) Dimple seeding (Job-Saver tines, Blec, etc.) Combinations of above Key is seed: soil contact Slide | 40 XYZ Country Club • • • • Verticutting 2-3x directions 1mm blades, 1 inch spacing, 0.5 inch depth Blow the debris off and channels open Overseed, Topdress, Cover Slide | 43 Recovery Continued • Overseed the areas with creeping bentgrass (1.25-1.5 lbs per 1,000 sq. ft.) • Add starter fertilizer (1-1.5 lbs of P per 1,000 sq. ft.) • Soluble N source (e.g. ammonium sulfate) to promote growth once soils warm • Use covers or black topdressing sand to warm the soils and hasten germination – Permeable, clear plastic, or both together – Divot mix? Slide | 44 Promoting Germination • Pre-germinate or prime seed • Warm soils • Keep moist Slide | 45 Slide | 46 Slide | 47 Recovery Continued • Light, frequent nitrogen fertility program – Soluble quick release soluble N • Mow conservatively – Walk-behind mower w/solid front roller – Mowing height of 0.160” – 0.200” • Light topdressing to smooth the surface • Open based on turf health; not the golf calendar Slide | 48 Sodding • Sodding is not always the best choice • Bentgrass may not adapt well to your site Slide | 49 Adam Moeller │Agronomist │ USGA Green Section │ Northeast Region