Reach for the stars with your Turfgrass Maintenance

Regardless of your budget and resources, let’s aim to produce your ultimate playing surface within your budget.

Decide on your priorities and systematically work through them.

To me, your priorities should always be greens followed by tees, bunkers, fairways, semi-rough, and of course, DETAIL.

Firstly, let’s take the guessing game out of the equation as much as possible.

Should you want to know how well your greens are functioning, this can be done by sending sand samples to Thomas Turf Laboratories in the USA. 

This is the perfect opportunity to ensure you have good infiltration rates. Does your topdressing sand match the material your greens were built with?

Check for daylight (drainage points)

If your greens are not draining well, drains are blocked or, as I so often come across, greens draining below water, your playing surface will have issues. 

Should your greens be draining underwater, you can add a sump pump – this is a simple, cost-effective solution. Remember, turf grass requires light, oxygen, nutrition, and water. 

Poor drainage or over-watering will lead to algae and moss on the playing surface.

Manage your moisture

This will ultimately determine your playing surface quality. 

Moisture meters are a fantastic tool and should be issued to all staff making decisions related to irrigation. It is critical to take the time to train your irrigation team. Ensure the data in the field matches the data in your central control computer. 

Water greens at the appropriate time – cool season greens love early morning 4-6 am watering, and warm season turf seems to prefer late afternoon watering 4-6 pm. 

Once the irrigation cycle has run, it is important to do your disease check (in the dew) and check your moisture levels prior to play. 

This is the time to hand-water any areas which do not have sufficient moisture to cope with your forecast weather for that day.

Qualibra is a fantastic tool to remove water off the playing surface (reducing the risk of algae, moss, and poa annua) while holding 21% more moisture in the root zone.

Nutrition

After water, nutrition, how much, and how often we feed greatly impacts our playing surface quality. 

It is best to run an annual soil test, and Talking Turf will gladly assist you to tailormake a nutrition programme to balance the nutrients in your soil and ultimately produce your ultimate playing surface.

Plant growth regulators

Primo Maxx is an incredible product I have personally worked with since 1996. This product is the ticket to you taking your playing surface to the next level. The improved density, colour, rooting, and playability make this product a no-brainer. The added benefits of an immediate reduction of 50% clippings and reduction of mowing make it incredibly affordable.

Just as we use tools to protect us from heat and cold, let’s give this to our turf plant to take it to the next level. 

Ryder is an incredible product allowing us to protect our plant from extreme heat or cold. The application rates on greens are 300-500 ml/ha every 14 days (tank mixable with any product other than copper). On warm season tees, you could apply 1.5-2 liters every 6 weeks from April to August. You will be amazed at the change in your plant health.