The Heat Is On:
12/06/2016
The
season is in full swing and we are preparing our surfaces with methods that
ensure the best possible conditions for you to play. One thing you may have
noticed is the white patches on the greens, these are the seed heads of the Poa
annua grass plant reproducing. One method of control is vertical-cutting or
verti-cutting as us greenkeepers like to refer to it. Vertical bladed units on
one of our greens mowers are used to enter the canopy 1mm bellow our greens
height of cut, standing up and removing a proportion of seed heads on the
greens.
An
additional benefit to verti-cutting is the removal of dead roots, shoots and
leaves (Thatch) and to stand up any lateral grass growth, which improves ball
roll and surface speeds. In an ideal situation we would look to verti-cut once
every two weeks during the growing season however sometimes excessive moisture
or heat stress delay our operations as we have a duty of care towards the health
of the grass plant.
We are
in June and have already seen temperatures hit the mid-twenties. We apply a
wetting agent monthly that allows the soil profile to hold on to as much
moisture as possible and manage levels at times of heat stress and high evapotranspiration
rates. We also hand water any localised dry spots with an additional wetting
agent that breaks the surface tension and allows water to penetrate into the
soil profile.
Hand watering to apply additional wetting agent.
