In addition to the iron, I have started to
spray a wetting agent. This has allowed
us to keep the moisture levels more
even. The dry springs & summers we
are experiencing has certainly aided
us. I have found that this can help
alleviate any hydrophobic areas as this
can help the water to negotiate its way
through the soil.
March
This month tends to be quite
complex for me. Spring is trending
to be later these days hence we are
finding growth a little sluggish. This
can be a frustrating time as golfer
expectations are beginning to rise by
now. Thankfully the fescue greens still
produces a smooth fast surface so with
some constant sand dressing we can
produce a fast firm surface. We still
have a cutting height of 5mm which
I have tended to stick to throughout
the year. This is the beauty of fescue
May
as we can get speeds from 9 to 10.5 on This is the real growing month! The
the stimpmeter without having to cut fescue will be in full force by now. The
much lower. This enables us to keep seaweed & wetting application in full
the fescue sward happy & stress free. flow so it will be all about keeping
April
Typically, this can be another
challenging month as golfers
expectations are certainly high. With
the changing weather patterns, this
can perhaps be the hardest month to
deal with. The hardest hurdle tends
to be the sudden changes in weather
temperatures. We can go from 7c up to
23c within a few days, but luckily we
have such a good sward coverage that
I am not fighting for growth so can
get very good smooth greens. We will
ramp up our cutting by now & will roll
a couple of times a week at this stage.
We also improve by spraying seaweed
on a monthly basis in addition to the
wetting agent.
moisture levels pretty constant. I will
look to keep them at between 16% -
20% . By now the poa is looking really
stressed and for me this then tends to
be a great opportunity for me to verti
cut the greens at around -1 mm below.
This tends to help me in my fight
against the bent grasses & the poa and
I also use a granular fertilizer & apply
an 8-0-0 feed. This will be followed up
by a very light overseed of fescue at
a rate of around 12g/m2. By now we
in full flow of top dressing every two
or three weeks. This will be very light
at around 11 tonnes an application
and we tend to roll it in then irrigate
to wash in as by doing this we feel we
don’t have to brush in. This is so we
can be gentle on the fescue & minimize
any abrasive actions.
June
June tends to be just making sure we
keep our moisture levels constant
which is important. We will be cutting
every day & will sporadically use the
greens iron to keep things smooth. On
top of this we will we will hand weed
if the need arises. By now we are just
on the routine monthly applications
of seaweed wetting agent & the top
dressing are applied fortnightly. This
continues until October.
July
July is more of the same, but by now
we are really concerned with moisture
levels, but to help with this we will
hand water. It is important we don’t
over water as we want to help the
fescue thrive & keep the poa at bay. A
few years back this would have been
the month I applied a summer feed of
8-0-0, but with climate change I have
since put back our fertilizer feed until
later in the year.
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Landscape & Urban Design Issue 37 2019