It was another week of wet weather, but at least it didn't snow! We're up to 4.47" of liquid precipitation this month and still have 4 days to go. Our average for April is only 3.11". Anyone who has played recently knows how wet the courses are, and it's been challenging trying to keep everything mowed now that most of the turf has resumed normal growth. The two biggest issues we're dealing with right now are ruts and shallow roots. The ruts will be fixed once the courses dry out through rolling/tamping, then leveling with soil and sowing seed. They should recover quickly with good weather, but we'll have to look at them for a little while longer. The shallow roots are a bigger concern for turf health this summer. In a normal spring with average precipitation, plant roots are actively growing longer in search of water and nutrients. Longer roots allows the turf to prepare for the stressful summer season where root loss is common. With everything being so wet this year, the roots do not have to search for water and nutrients deeper in the soil. They will remain fairly shallow until conditions dry out forcing the roots to grow deeper. The recent aerification of greens helps with root production by relieving compaction and making it easier for water and nutrients to move deeper in the rootzone. Aerification also increases oxygen levels in the soil for healthy root growth. New this year, we will be core aerifying tees and fairways both spring and fall to start addressing the issues that arose last season. The same benefits will be achieved as mentioned for the greens, and expect to see the process started in the next week or two depending on what the weather does.
Speaking of greens aerification, the pictures below were taken on Grove 7 green. It's only been a week since DryJect occurred, but the holes are almost completely healed. Orchard greens were completed today and should be completely healed in 7-10 days.
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| DryJected green on 4/18 |
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| Same green on 4/25 |
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