There has been a flurry of enquiries this week about winter maintenance practices, one of my favourite subjects as regulars will know.
Anyway, although I might not have said it all before click here for a selection of related articles.
There is also an in-depth report on winter maintenance here
The great debate about green speed has raged on since the beginning of the game. But what are the factors known to affect green speed?
In order of their impact on green speed these are the top 7 factors that you should bear in mind. Obviously there are others such as weather patterns, level of play etc, but these are largely out of the greenkeepers control and in any case do not figure highly in green speed management.
Thatch Layer Control and Management; this means knowing the thatch levels on your green and having a feel for how quickly thatch builds up at each point in the year.
Typically thatch will be much quicker to build up in the main growing season and it can easily take greenkeepers by surprise if they don’t keep a watchful eye on the situation.
Reducing a troublesome thatch layer significantly is a job best left for the autumn when severe measures can more safely be taken, but following the Performance Greens program will ensure that you are minimising the occurrence of new thatch through the production and maintenance of a healthy living rootzone and turf.
You can find more in-depth articles on thatch here.
Compaction Control and Relief; Second only to thatch in causing green problems, Compaction is a Read more
Next question to ask as a matter of urgency:
Does anyone have plans to get rid of compaction once and for all by hiring in a guy with a tractor and a big spiker that can go in 12, 16, 18, 20 inches? You add your own number here.
Pointers:
Rob emailed with an interesting question about using the old fashioned forking method of aeration during periods when the green is excessively wet, like now probably in many parts. Here is Rob’s full question and my reply to him earlier. If anybody has views on this subject please feel free to share:
Do you know anything about the traditional ‘raise forking’ or ‘graip’ aeration methods that were used? What kind of forks were used? (straight? curved? how thick were the prongs?) and how deep did the go down ? etc.
I am interested in such traditional techniques and yet cannot find out any information about it?
After the snow the greens are absolutely soaked through and I wondered if trying this traditional technique might dry them out with minimum disturbance?
Well, although I have used the method (under duress) in the past, I didn’t have all of the answers I would have liked for Rob:
Hi Rob and Happy New Year
I am not aware of any special equipment for this, but I have done it.
Usually this was with a normal garden fork; the technique was to work backwards and push the fork in as far as possible at intervals equivalent to the space between the tines on the fork so as to create a square hole pattern.
After pushing the fork in to full depth (6 to 8 inches) you wiggled it about and heaved it backwards slightly before removing and moving on to the next.
Back-breaking and very labour intensive mind you.
Before going to extreme measures it might be worth checking that the ground isn’t still frozen at some point below as this might be causing the slow down in drainage.
During the winter I recommend using a deep slit tiner as often as possible, which automates this procedure to some extent and has a very good effect on compaction related problems like this.
You can find articles on this here:
Last week I shared some links to resources including the most suitable machinery for this work; you can see that article here:
If any reader has some light to shed on this subject then I would be very interested to hear it.
John
It’s nearly time again to be thinking about what to do to the green after the last game has been played.
I still hear the phrases “closing the green down for winter” and “putting the green to bed for winter” all too often and that is a worry.
Of course these are for the most part just harmless terms for the end of the season, but in some cases they still mean literally ignoring the green from now until next March.
Autumn is the only time we can really tackle big issues like thatch reduction and compaction relief in a meaningful way.
We also have to ensure that all running repairs that require re-growth such as over-seeding of bare patches are carried out soon after the season ends to give the work the longest and best chance to succeed.
Moving beyond the autumn renovation plan it is vital that maintenance continues throughout the winter months, especially in terms of compaction relief as this is an ongoing effort and doesn’t stop in winter time. In fact winter is the best time to get on top of compaction by following a concerted monthly program of compaction relied measures.
I’ve updated our Winter Bowling Green Maintenance Guide. The guide is FREE and you can get a copy by dropping your details in the box at the top right of the page.
If you have already signed up to receive email updates from us you will have already received a link to download a new copy.
Good luck with the autumn renovation works and winter programs and remember, if you have any questions just drop me a line anytime.
John
