Spring Preparation

Soil temps will be warming up soon and with that brings green grass.  With the air temps in the 70s over the last few weeks you can already start to see some leaf greenup, although we are a long way from the plant actually growing actively.  Our goals at this time are to condition the surfaces to be ready and primed for the spring.  There are a number of steps to take to get there. 

Closeup look at the blades that penetrate the ground

First, in order to relieve compaction that has accumulated over the late summer – winter and to promote spring root growth and development, we will be slicing and solid tine aerifying the roughs and key walk up areas.  With all of the cart traffic in the roughs over the winter this is a much needed step towards keeping our roughs nice and full every year going forward.  The slicing device that we use is called an Aerway (tractor mounted slicer) and it creates a 4-5” slit on the surface and goes down about 4-6” in the ground.  This slicing action opens up the canopy for water infiltration and fractures the ground to promote air movement to allow for deeper root growth and healthier turf.  This is a perfect time of the year for this action.  Even though the grass or top portion of the plant is not growing yet, the temps are in perfect range for root growth.  Around key areas where we get the most traffic, like green surrounds and walk ups to greens and tees, we will be using our solid tine fairway aerifier, in addition to the Aerway, to get a little more relief.  This process is not invasive at all and can be played on right behind.

The look of the grass after process is complete

Second, we will follow these cultural processes with our annual scalp down.  We will take the roughs down from their usual 2” height to roughly 1.25-1.5” to remove all of the dead/brown material.  This action allows for sunlight down to the soil and gives the new grass plenty of room to grow uninhibited.  Allowing more sunlight to the soil will actually increase the soil temperature as there is less material to shade it.  The mowing behind the slicing will help smooth out the slits and give the surface a nice clean appearance.  If we can start with a clean slate for the spring it will make our growing season easier and allow for better results.  We will try to complete these tasks in the month of February, weather permitting. We have already started the process on the Pecan Course, and should have it wrapped up by the end of the week so we can start Cypress next week. 

Scalping down the turf behind to smooth out surface and remove dead brown material

Lastly, all of the processes are done ahead of time to get ready for the spring pre-emerge and fertilization of all grass surfaces during the middle of March.  As you know, a pre-emerge is designed to provide a barrier or barricade for weed growth on the soil surface.  Slicing the ground or any surface disruption can negate the effects of this, so we go ahead and get all of that done beforehand for the best results.  The fertilizer will give the plant the much needed nutrients that it needs for new development. 

We are also busy trying to finish up a number of winter projects.  There are a number of dead trees that we have removed and will continue to remove as well as the continuation of trimming trees for better tree and turf health. We are also working on some small details that you should start noticing, like edging sprinkler heads and sprucing up the practice area experience.  We want to get most of the projects wrapped up before the Spring so when the grass starts growing we can be ready to keep up with it.   

We look forward to a great 2015!  I will be communicating with you a lot throughout the year, so if I didn’t get to all of the topics out there, I will very soon. As always, if you have any questions or comments about the courses please feel free to get in touch with me.  We are always looking to do our part to improve your experience.