V-Cutting the Greens

V-cutter working sand down into the canopy


After picture, you can see the stolons disrupted



Last Monday, we vertical mowed the greens after the tournament. Vertical mowing is a cultivation procedure involving the use of vertically oriented knives mounted on a rapidly rotating, horizontal shaft. I like to call it grooming the greens. We are attempting to nick the turfgrass canopy and cut the stolons to help reduce the grain that occurs because of the bermuda grass growing habits. The vertical mower blades are set at even and then we proceed to make a pass in one direction across the green, we then turn around and come back down the same pass. We do this because the grain changes directions on the greens, so if you go down and back on the same pass you will have a better chance to disrupt the surface grain.

The process goes like this:

1. Topdress Greens (let the sand dry so it does not stick to the machines)


2. Vertical mow (at even, change directions every week)


3. Mow with reel mowers
4. Roll
5. Brush with mecanical broom
6. Spray and/or gypsum application

This is a process that is essential for our greens and is completed in about 5 hours on Mondays.

Dollar Spot

Tee box with dollar spot


Rough with dollar spot

mycelium on infected turf in morning hours

Pathogen- Rutstroemia Floccosum formerly known as Sclerotinia Homocarpa

Hosts- Bahia, Bermuda, st. Augustine, Zoysia, and several other cool season grasses

The spots you see all over the course are called dollar spot. This disease is characterized by round, bleached-out or straw colored spots, ranging from the size of a quarter to the size of a silver dollar. The spots appear as sunken areas in the turf. The spots are very visible in the morning when the grass is still wet, the grayish white, fluffy mycelium of the fungus can be seen sitting on top of the grass. This disease can be spread by mowers, humans, animals, and other maintenance equipment carrying the mycelium and infected tissue. This disease occurs when the temperature is between 60 degrees and 90 degrees. There are many different vegetative compatibility groups within Rutstroemia Floccosum that caused diseases at various temperature and humidity regimes.

Cultural management of dollar spot involves regulating the nitrogen level in the plant. One school of thought states, the number of infections will be greater with high nitrogen levels, but damage will be less severe than if nitrogen levels are low. This is the situation we are in, our nitrogen levels are keep very low, so the outbreak is widespread. Dollar spot can be managed with the use of many contact and systemic fungicides like myclobutanil, fenarimol, propizonazole, boscalid, and triadimefon applied every two or three weeks, or contact fungicides like chlorothalonil applied every seven to ten days.

This bottom line is this disease is not fun to look at, but it will not kill the bermudagrass. We will apply a little nitrogen to the course and we will be grown out of it before you know it.

CUTTING BACK

example of a whorled growth pattern

this is an azalea we have pruned, it should leaf out in a matter of no time.

Once again the azaleas produced many bright and brilliant colors giving the golf course a great back drop. The flowering has ended and now the pruning has begun. Although it's not a pretty transition, it's a practice that needs to be performed in order to have a thriving bloom the following spring. The azaleas on a few holes have become too tall and dense due to their vigorous growing habit. They are being thinned and pruned to about two feet tall.

The azalea plant has what is called a whorled growth. This means that each year new growth can be determined by a stem with several other newer stems branching off it. Pruning azaleas is simple. To keep bushes compact, tip-pinch frequently, starting after flowering ends and continuing until mid-June. All pruning will be complete on the golf course by June, weather permitting.

Lace bugs can cause a major problem on azaleas. Native to Japan, the female will lay eggs on the underside of leaves along the mid rib. The azalea acts as a host supplying nutrients for the insect, and in return is very injurious to the plant.

To control lace bugs from infecting and feeding on the azaleas, a granular insecticide is spread. On the grounds crew we find Merit, a systemic insecticide, works exceptionally well on all azalea plants we maintain. Systemic is defined as; absorbed and circulated by a plant or other organism so as to be lethal to pests that feed on it. A systemic insecticide will give longer residuals controlling the insects for a longer period of time throughout the year. The azalea will absorb the granular Merit within itself to defend against lace bugs that try to feed on the plant tissue. The active ingredient in Merit is Imidacloprid at 0.5%. As of today, all of the azaleas at Squire Creek have had the annual application of Merit. They are now prepared and ready to defend against an attack from lace bugs.

All the necessary procedures have been taken to insure a healthy bloom. So just sit back and wait to see what the azaleas have in store for next spring.

Annuals

Front of clubhouse, the shorter plants are foxglove and others are larkspur


clubhouse entrance, top plants are poppies and petunias, bottom plants are petunias

tennis courts, yellow is coreopsis, poppies are red and purple, to the left of the coreopsis is the dianthus ( deep pink in color)

The annuals beds around the grounds are absolutely beautiful at this time and we can expect them to be in full bloom over the next couple of weeks. Everything you see now was planted late last fall. A general rule of thumb is you plant a season ahead. For example, we planted pansies last fall for winter and early spring color. We have now pulled the pansies and planted petunias for late spring and summer color.

Annual beds consist of:

• Coreopsis-member of the sunflower, yields a profusion of yellow flowers over a long bloom season, likes full sun


• Poppy- they provide bright spring color, like well drained soil and full sunlight, can be used as cut flowers (when used as cut flowers sear the cut end of the stem in a flame before placing in water)
  
• Foxglove- erect plants that are about 2-3 feet tall, form low foliage clumps topped by spikes of tubular flowers shaped like fingertips of a glove; color include purple, yellow, white, and pastels, blooms attract hummingbirds, they prefer a light shade


• Dianthus- form an attractive evergreen mat or tuft of grass-like green, gray-green, blue-green, or blue-gray leaves. Single, semi-double, or double flowers in white and shades of pink, rose, red, yellow, and orange; many have a rich, spicy fragrance. Main bloom period for most is spring into early summer


• Petunia- These flowers have lost some popularity in the south because they have performed poorly in the hot, humid weather. In the past few years they have made a comeback mainly because of several new heat tolerant types, such as the trailing wave series, the new hybrids are low-growing, bushy to spreading plants with thick, broad leaves that are slightly sticky to touch. Flowers vary from funnel-shaped single blooms to very double, heavily ruffled one reminiscent of carnations. The color range is phenomenal.


• Larkspur-this plant grows 1-5 feet tall, flowers are up to 1.5 inches wide, borne on vertical spikes above deeply cut, almost fern-like leaves; blossom colors include blue, lilac, purple, pink, rose, salmon, and white. seed in the fall and plant in full sunlight

Topdressing

topdressing application


Everybody wants to know, what is with all the sand on the greens? The answer to that question is, topdressing sand. Topdressing sand is a prepared sand mix added to the surface of a turfgrass and worked in by brooming, matting, raking, and/or irrigation to smooth the surface. This also firms the turf by working soil in among stolons and thatch forming materials, and enhances thatch decomposition.

We topdress greens for several reasons:

• smooth the playing surface


• control thatch development


• promote recovery from injury and disease


• protect the crown of the plant from desiccation
  

The days proceeding a topdressing you will see us brushing and rolling the greens to help the sand penetrate the turfgrass canopy. Please do not be confused, topdressing is a cultural practice that is vital to the health of our turfgrass .

The Colors of Squire Creek

Flowering Dogwood

Eastern Redbuds

Mayapples

Flame Buckeye

Fisher Pink

After the long hard winter a sign of spring has finally arrived. The temperatures have been great and the flowering plants are showing off their true beauty. Here are a few of the plants you will see around the course this time of year:

1. Flowering Dogwood- (Cornus Flordia) This has been called the most beautiful native tree in North America. The flowers are white and the cover the whole tree. Most dogwoods take full sun, but will tolerate light shade. They make excellent lawn, patio, or understory trees. They like moist, acidic, well drained soil with lots of organic matter. The pruning of this tree is seldomly necessary except when their is a need to remove weak or crossed branches.


2. Redbud- (Cersis) This deciduous tree or shrub is one of the most charming native trees we have in our area. The redbud is valuable for bridging the color gap between early flowering fruit trees (peach, plum) and the late flowering dogwoods and cherries. The flowers are small and rosy pink or lavender in color. Redbuds are effective as a specimen or understory tree.


3. Mayapple-(Podophyllum) New growth pushing up through leaf litter is one of the earliest signs of spring in the wooded areas. Mature leaves of mayapples are 1 foot wide, divided into 5-9 lobes, and are shiny dark green in color. The plant then produces a white flower under the leaf. Mayapples spread very quickly and produces a great contrast to the woodland bottoms around the course.


4. Flame Buckeye- (a. pavia) Native to the eastern U.S. this bulky shrub grows 3 -20ft tall and just as wide, with an irregular rounded crown. This plant bears narrow, erect 10 inch clusters of bright red flowers. Buckeyes do extremely well in warm, humid climates.


5. Azaleas- These are arguably the Souths favorites shrubs. Azaleas need acidic, well drained, organically enriched soil that should neither get too dry nor too soggy. An azalea loves the ph to be between a 5-6, this is the main reason they do so well in our area. When you plant an azalea you always need to plant the root ball slightly above the soil level. These plants have an extremely shallow root system. It is very important when watered to wet the roots and the foliage. In the spring after the bloom fade, you can feel free to prune, mulch and fertilize them. Some of the different azaleas we have are: Fisher Pink, Formosa, George Lindsey Taber, Mrs. G.G. Gerbing, and Sunglow

Gypsum Application to Greens

50lb bag of Gypsum

Pellets on 18 green

Application of 18 Green

Last Monday we applied Gypsum to the Greens. Gypsum in a mineral or rock composed of Calcium Sulfate Dihydrate that can be pulverized into micro capsulated pellets and bagged for easy to use applications. This was applied to help flush unwanted sodium build up in our sand base greens. The calcium in gypsum replaces the sodium from the soil exchange sites, which can then be leached with water. This build up occurs when we have to resort to using the water from our water treatment pond. This is considered effluent water and is very high in sodium. In addition to applying gypsum to our greens, we also apply it to all the areas at the clubhouse that are irrigated with city water. The city water is high in bicarbonates and sodium. This destroys the structure of the soil and makes growing high quality turf a difficult task.