Its hard to
believe our Autumn Greens renovations are a little over a week away although we are not expecting a sudden drop to
Autumn like temperatures we do hope temperatures moderate to at least below 30
unlike the past week with temperatures of 30+ up to 35.
We can’t
control the weather and we are locked in to carry out renovations the first
weekend after the Labour Day long weekend due to play commitments, it maybe
slightly earlier than desired as the heat does bring challenges for renovations
but it also has its benefits in that the greens are normally fully recovered
with full cover of turf prior to the cooler weather germination of Poa annua
(Winter Grass). To leave the greens later than desired would be more of a
concern as it leaves the greens susceptible to Poa invasion through a thinner
turf canopy during favourable germination times for this weed, restricts both
pre and post emergent control measures and less likely the greens may only partially
recover enough in time for the slower growing colder months leaving them susceptible
to wear and thinning of the turf further encouraging winter grass infestation
more so than the incidence we presently experience.
That said it
still feels very strange talking of greens renovations when experiencing 30+
degree odd days and certainly has me thinking how this summer’s hectic rush has
made time seemingly flyby arriving in Autumn it what appears a few weeks to
soon, or I am simply getting old, I will need to see Mick about that to see if
there’s some truth in it.
Coming out
of summer (and I use that term loosely) I am happy with the greens performance, moving forward
there remain a few challenges we need to address, but certainly
we can see slight improvements in a few key areas namely, Crab grass incidence,
Saltene and Couch grass encroachment and summer green speeds. The three weed
grasses, are notoriously difficult to control in bent grass with limited
options for control however there is a downward trend in overall percentages
which is encouraging. Looking ahead we plan to be more aggressive in the lead
up to next summer with control measures, something we were restricted with this
past season due to the National Vets in November and in a longer term strategy
hope to construct a nursery area over this winter period to allow us to
commence removal of severely contaminated areas in the near future.
Green speeds
are always an issue through summer, this summer was no different though it must
be pointed out a few changes to maintenance practices and few ‘new’ measures
implemented, one was the extended application of growth regulators to greens
which resulted in a slight increase in pace compared to past years, I will
continue to trial rates best suited for our environment in view of narrowing
the bridge between Player wants and Turf health needs with the later taking
precedence over all else.
Back to
renovations and excessive heat in the lead up to renovations is our main
concern, after renovations the heat may impede recovery to some extent but with
much cooler night time temperatures and products applied to stimulate growth
for recovery the turf is growing well enough for this not to be an issue as
long as correct moisture content is maintained.
In the lead
up week it does pose a few challenges, in this period we like to verti cut
greens, apply post emergent control measures for Couch, Saltene and Crab grass,
these practices do come with a certain risk of injury to the turf and
under normal conditions with favourable weather the risk is very minor and the
greens recover quickly from any potential injury through the renovation process
however when temperatures rise above 30 degrees generally it is an accepted
practice to stop all herbicide treatments on Bent grass due to the increased
and unacceptable risk of injury to the turf which would slow down the recovery
process and in some cases require further intervention. In many cases the
products are less effective particularly in the case of Couch grass control in
Bent grass with just the one registered product which acts more as a
suppressant with control negligible under hotter conditions.
Should
temperatures remain high we may decide to postpone the control measures to
ensure the greens recover from renovations in a speedy manner and apply the
products under favourable weather conditions after renovations to ensure the
products adequate efficacy, this may mean the 3 main weed grasses linger
on for longer after renovations than normal.
Now that
this post has turned into an epic novel I’ll get back to work and leave you
with some reading time between rounds.
