No Growth

No Sign of Greens Growth

 

 

The greens are still not showing any real signs of growth, especially with the temperatures remaining colder at nights. Talking to other greenkeepers in the area and reps who visit many clubs the feedback is the same. They talk about being around a month behind schedule with regards to where they should be. We can try many different things such as use of fertiliser and other products but unless we receive some help from mother nature with regards to sunshine and an increase in soil temperatures, the greens will continue to make slow progress.

 

 

 

Bent and poa grasses

These photos show the different types of grasses that we have in our greens. They are predominantly made up of poa annua and bent grasses. There are also small amounts of fescue and rye in certain greens. Now just to make things difficult, these different grass types grow at different rates to different heights, which cause the greens to have a patchy appearance. The bent grass has a much more desirable colour and it is much more disease tolerant and doesn't rely as much on water and fertiliser. Poa (annual meadow grass) has a much weaker appearance, is more shallow rooting and requires more food and water to survive. Ideally the greens would be made up of bent and fescue grasses, what you would find more commonly on a links green, but this would require much needed maintenance, time, money and commitment.
 

 

The following diagrams show how the last few years have varied with regard to soil temperatures. Generally conditions require temperatures to be above 6 degrees to achieve any growth. The first diagram shows how many days were higher than 6 degrees. The second shows how many of these days there were in total. It is clear to see how fewer we have had this year compared to last, accounting for the lack of growth. (These figures were accumalated in the midlands, but a similar pattern if not worse has happened in the north west).

Courtesy of Mark Hunt, Headland

 

 

Courtesy of Mark Hunt

Usually this subject of uneven growth and bobbly greens rears its head around April time, or Augusta syndrome time, but we are only now at the middle of May and the growth still resists. The next topic will be spring maintenance, the value of aeration and the use of topdressing.