TURF COMMS VOI  I SiBUEZ 3 O — 1 PURPOSE: To pass on what we learn willingly and happily to others in the profession so as to improve turf conditions around the country. W J NTEIR O O V Ir
l IR £3 ( e on t: — f r om p g « 4 of I s su e 8, Va 1 « 2 ) The grass then proceeds to rapidly turn brown and almost appears to die a few days after you remove the cover« The best time to remove a cover is at the very beginning of a mild spell« li a t e rial s t h a t h a v e b e e n u s e d f o r c o v e r s i n c 1 u d e u lvl AN U R E -may have high salts, doesn't let light thru too well, introduces weed seeds, and may promote snow mold« BRUSH - tends to attract mice and other rodents» PLASTIC unless punched full of holes :i. t does not 1 et water i n or out (does not "breathe11) , i f b 1 ack :i. t does not let light thru« SNOW FENCES - put around the green they cut down on the wind and allow more snow to stay on parts of the green, they are very effective at keeping snowmobiles off the g r e e n s a s w e 11 a s g o 1 f e r s a n d s k i e r s« S t r a w - d i f f i c u 11 t o h o 1 d in pi ace i n wi ndy areas, may promote snow mol d« Hydromul ch ex pens:i. ve, app 1 y one f ungi ci de pr :i. or and one i n the hydromul ch for snow mold protection, traffic on this mulch tends to cause it o f f « S Y N T H E TIC B L A N K E T S s o 1 d a s g e o t e xt.il e s, o r f afor i c s, ex pensive but i f r o11ed up and stor ed in t he last three winters, except for their high cost these are the easiest materials to work with, they must be well 12 inch spikes every two feet may be needed« now avai1ab1e i nside a p1asti c netti ng, i s ex pens!ve to blow 1 and sc. ape dark may probable pinned down, EXCELSIOR -a nd mor e d i f fie u11 t o p r ov i d e mor e p r otect i on « hand I e t h a ri t h e s y n t h e t i c: b 1 a n k e t s, m a y TURFCOMliS is published at unpredictable interval» by the editor and publishers Douglas T. Hawes, Ph D Certified Professional Agronomist Specializing in Golf Course Maintenance Consulting 2408 Roundrock Trail Piano, Texas 75075 (214) 867-0176 Subscription cost is «10. Send checks to Doug Hawes at the above address. The most r ec: ent resear ch r eport on prot ec t ive cover s was that by Dr. J — M. Roberts of New Hampshi re i n the January -Febr uar y , 1986, Agr onomy J our na 1 . Dr. Rober t s r epor t ed t hat spunbonded polyester blankets of 1 to 2 ounces per square yard p r o v i d e d d e s i c c a t i o n p r o t e c t i o n. H e f o u n d ;L 0 t o 2 0 p e r c e n t m o r e spring leaf moisture, increased root length and clippings« He a 1 so found up to 18°F warrner soi 1 temperatures in the spring« This material let 29 to 56 M/. of the light thru- The wave 1engths of 1i ght valuab1e i n the photosynthesis process that i s. The sp un bon d ed p o1yprop y1 en e b1 ankets wer e compared t o heavier and more opaque polypropylene blankets. These allowed 3 7» or 1 ess of the usabl e 1 i ght waves through« A1 so, ex ami ned were pine needle and sewage sludge covered treatments. The turf was 1 e s s h e a 11 h y u n d e r t h e s e o t h e r t h r e e c o v e r s.. R o b e r t s c o n c 1 u d e d that opaque covers should be removed earlier in the spring. The exc 1 usi on of light by the po 1 ypropy 1 ene had resu 11ed i n c:oo 1 er soil temperatures as well as reduced plant vigor. He applied covers i n 1 at e Mov ember an d r emoved in Ap r i1. He did find that ice melted 2 days faster over the sludge and polypropylene blankets. He also suggested leaving desiccation protective covers on in the spring until supplemental moisture was avai1able. For faster snow and ice melt I suggest you try the powdered graphite mentioned below. (also mentioned in Vol. 2, Issue 4, pg. 3) MELT IT WITH GRAPHITES For those greens where ice and snow accumulations are a problem try the following. Put 2 cups of p o w d e r e d g r a p h i t e i n 3 g a 11 o n s o f w a t e r — 8 h a k e w e 11 a n d s p r a y o n wi th a backpack sprayer. Thi s should adequate!y b1acken 5000 square feet to give you faster snow melt if any sunlight gets thru at all. The beauty of this approach is that you will have no proh1 em getti ng it to st i c k to very smooth i cy crusts» Try ordering the powdered graphite from your local metal foundry or his supplier. T UP FS F"' ft O V I S O R6 V S EE Fi V I G EI F" EE EI SB FOR I. 9G1 "7* There will be a $50 increase in the turf advisory service fee structure f or subscr i b i ng c 1 ufas i n 1987. Th i s i s the f i rst increase in two years and is necessary to keep up with travel expenses. Even bo, Doug Hawes is still the biggest bargain in golf c our se ma i n t en an c e t od ay,, espec i a 11 y wh en c omp ar ed t o t h e USGA and other commercial agronomic consulti ng firms. The new fee structure f or 1987 i s5 1/2 day vi si t - *400 full day visit - $600 Your c ont i nued suppor t appr ec i ated» WOULD YOUR GREEN COMI"! ITTEE AGREE TO NO WINTER GOLF ? The green conimittee at a Northeastern country c 1 uh c 1 osed the course with the following note to the members last winter« WINTER GOLF The grass-growi ng season for northern go 1 f courses begi ns ab out Ap r i 1 .15 an d en d s ab out Oc t ob er 31« Dur i n g t h is t i me, t h e bentgrasses we encourage on greens, tees and -fairways can recover from normal traffic, divot and wear injury and compete favorably w i t h o t h e r p 1 a n t s t: h a t s e e k t o e n c r o a c h— D u r i n g t h e e n t i r e growing season, an intensive turf maintenance and management prog r a m i s d i r e c t e d t o t a 11 y t o e n c o u rage m o r e and m o r e b e n t g r a s s a n d 1 e s s Poa annua o n o u r greens, tee s a n d f a i r w a y s« Th is "bat11e" goes on dur i ng the ent i re growing season and if p r o b 1 e rn s a r i s e d u r i n g t his t i m e, P o a annua i s u s u a 11 y the reason! Heavy seed growth i n spri ng, siow putting surfaces, brown spots in greens caused by disease or wilt, uneven growth, excess!ve pal 1 en to affect golfers with al 1ergies al 1 are problems caused by Poa annua that affect golfers and p 1 ay« Go1f i n w i nt er, when t he b en t g r asses ar e f r ozen and d or mant, t ot ally f a vor s Poa annua«, Poa annua quickly takes advantage of any bentgrass weakness to gain foothold. Poa annua seed is ever-present and ready to germinate at the slightest opportunity« Golf in winter compacts the soi 1 « ,, compact soi 1 s require more aeration during the? spring and fall golfing seasons...and a e r a t i o n a t a n y t i in e is d i s t u r b i n g t o a 11 g o 1 f e r s d u r i n g t h e regular playing season« We reduced our program to one aeration of greens and tees annual 1y«««with winter play, greens may have to be aerated at 1 east twice annual 1y during the regular golfing season. Aeration always requires heavy topdressing Š both are cost1y budget i tems« Problems with golf turf in winter also concerns involvement with soil t emp erat ur es, air t emper at ur es an d drai n ag e * In wi nter, soil und er t urf f reezes t o dept hs f rom a f ew i nch es t o several feet, depending upon the severity of cold experienced« Onc e t h e so i1 f reezes, i t n eg at es a11 und er g round d r a i nag e unt i 1 the f r ozen so i1 on c e ag a i n thaws c omp1et e1y« To comp oun d t h e problem, part of the upper inch of soil thaws on sunny days, causing excessive wetness in this area from trapped water above frozen soil« Now this combination of circumstances results in severe compaction when play is allowed under these conditions because the thawed soil is compressed, vise-like, from foot pressure on solid ice below the thaw. Infrequent warm days will not thaw a deep freeze significantly. It takes 10 to 14 days of continuous air temperatures over 50 degrees for winter soils to thaw to a safe depth for play« SOIL TEMPERATURES GENERALLY ARE 10 TO 15 DEGREES COLDER THAN AIR TEMPERATURES. GRASS ROOTS DON "i BEGIN TO FUNCTION UNTIL SOIL TEMPERATURES REACH THE AREA OF 40 TO 45 DEGREES! The areas hurt most by winter play are greens and tees« Therefore, in the interest of more enjoyable playing conditions for all golfers during the growing season, we deem it necessary to close the course from February 15 until we feel it saf e to resume pI ay in spring, approximately Apri1 15 We seek the support and understand!ng of all members in our quest for BETTER, STRONGER PERMANENT TURF with each and every passing year. Green Commi 11ee From the Editors Heard a quote from Ross Perot over the radio on the way to work one morning that I thought worth repeating. This will not foe an accurate quote as I'm not good at writing in Dallas traffic,, Mr« Perot, for non-Texans, is a rather famous person and former owner of Electronic Data Systems and more important lately the chairman of a committee that examined Texas's school system and came up with some strong suggestions for improvement. The most famous of these was the NO PASS - NO PLAY rule which does not allow high school students to part i c i pate i n ex tracurri cu1ar act i vi t i es i f they f aiIed a subject in the last six weeks. It does not just pick on athletes but you would think so to hear most of the screaming. Anyway Mr. Per ot sai d hi s mi rror to1d him he was not a pearl, so he decided to be the oyster. But, now looking back-over his life he felt more that he was really the grain of sand that irritated the oyster into producing the pearl— He may just have done that with the Texas school systems. Hope some of these articles will provide the proper "irritation" in the turf world to produce some "pearls". RUB IG AN AGAIN - Did you catch the article in the September/October issue of the USGA Record? "Use of Fenarimol f or Selecti vely Control 1i ng Poa annua i n an Over seeded Bermudagrass Golf Green" Read it and then go back and reread the recent articles in Turfcomms. Fenarimol is the common chemical name f or Rubi gan. END