Many of us enjoy summer and all it has to offer.....holiday's, swimming parties, cookouts, family get-togethers and warm weather. These are all great reasons to enjoy the summer, but for highly maintained turf grass, the extreme heat and humidity can and will take a toll on its health and appearance. Cool season grasses (i.e. bentgrass/annual bluegrass) become stressed and at temperatures above 86 degrees will expend more energy to stay alive than it will produce. Over time this will lead to the gradual decline in plant health. Short periods of high temperatures usually do not cause widespread damage, however, prolonged periods of heat like we have seen the past two summers may result in some turf loss.
After looking back at past weather records for the golf course, I have compiled some interesting information about the excess heat we've had lately.
July 2009 July 2010 July 2011
days over 85 2 18 28
days over 90 0 13 21
days under 80 11 1 0
ave. high temp 79.8 88.7 90.9
For a golf course in Northwest Ohio to average 90 degrees for an entire month is simply unheard of! Throw in some humidity and we have totalled 11 days with heat index's of 100 degrees or higher! This recipe offers an environment for turf grass diseases to thrive. Summer Patch, Brown Patch, Anthracnose and Pythium are very active and if not treated preventatively will take out turf at a rapid pace! Be careful to not overwater, as this may enhance disease activity, and fertility.......well excess nitrogen can increase the severity of Brown Patch and Pythium alike. As you can see there are many things to consider when caring for turf in these conditions.
Maintenance practices like topdressing and brushing may have to take a back seat until the weather becomes more cooperative. These practices would be an added stress to an already stressed plant and could lead to further turfgrass decline. For these reasons we have not topdressed in a while, but looking ahead to next week, the weather looks to be more favorable for a greens topdressing. We were able to complete a solid tine aerification a few weeks back and this helped to increase the gas exchange in the root zone which greatly benefits the plants.
Soil tests were also completed back in mid-July and will aid us with our fertility during the remainder of this year and will also help us to put together a detailed fertility plan for next season.
In summary, not a whole lot of "new" things are taking place on the golf course. We are trying to keep our moisture levels appropriate by moving roller basins along fairways, selective use of wetting agents, and hand watering greens to prevent wilt. Our fertility consists of spoon feeding at low rates of nitrogen to avoid both growth flushes and an increase disease severity. Plant protectants are used to keep the spread of disease to a minimum and plant growth regulators are also used to enhance overall plant health.
We hope everyone is enjoying their summer as well as the golf course!
Stone Ridge Maintenace Staff
