Covid Practice Plans (Green Building -- please tell me I'm not nuts!)

[DLiver]

Have you talked to a greenskeeper about what kind of bunker sand to use? The stuff I put in my bunker originally was horrible, and I had to replace it. That was no fun. I think I just used play sand the first time around, but can't recall what I ended up with.

[farmer]

To follow on DLiver, we have masonry sand in our few bunkers, and it is horrible. I don't know what big courses use, but it is worth spending the money.

[DShepley]

Thanks. From what I've read online, it seems the best sand to use is the same sand that is used in the base mix of the green. That way when it gets splashed onto the green, it is compatible with the top dressing and doesn't create accumulation issues. I will likely start there and see how it goes since I can have enough delivered to set aside for top dressing as well. In speaking with the Greens Keeper at my home course, this is basically the same sand our bunkers are built with, (the pit is across the road from the course). It's not the best sand, but...it won't have me practicing in sand that is much different than our course either.

[dcrocketman]

What fertilization program are you following?

[farmer]

D, the problem we have is that the sand never settles into a real sand trap condition. The sand we use is leftover from punching and topdressing, so it is screened to uniform grains to prevent compacting. We have to water everyday, so the only time the bunkers are playable as "real" is in the winter when they get dry. There is, somewhere, a guide I've read that outlines what the tour requires as to sand levels in the bunkers where events are held. Not as much as you might think.

[DShepley]

So far just the Scott's starter fertilizer I put down with the seed.

[dcrocketman]

http://www.simplot.com/pdf/V8_Maintenance_Guide.pdf

[DShepley]

Another big day today! I replaced the ratty old flower bed with sod, (about 520 square feet or so), and things are starting to look pretty good. Watering duty got a bit more complex, so I guess I better stock the fridge! Next up is a few yards of mulch to spread between the trees so I can put a bench there for my school bus riders, then some bunker sand and it's all over but the grass growing and maybe some planter boxes with flowers to pretty it up a bit! Probably should fertilize this week as well. Also, if it rained at night for the next month and a half it would not hurt my feelings though I do have a free hand while I'm running the hose so...... Also note, the sod isn't that long, it just looks that way because of the wide angle lens.

[Chip Duffer]

Can't have that beauty in the city. NICE!!

[DShepley]

The field beside me is planted in corn this year, so I'm calling it my 'Field of Dreams'.... Can't wait to hit putts with Bobby Jones after dark

[Chip Duffer]

That is awesome imagery!

Creativity around the green with Seve, the good company and talent of Arnie and of course Mr. Jones stroking puts on your creation with Calamity Jane. For some reason I see Jack Lemon joining the fun in that group to make it 5.

 

[mallrat]

So a few thoughts.

First, find a way to add a quick coupler or hose bib off to the side so you will be able to spot water without running the whole green.

2nd, start planning your fertilizer apps and maybe look for an old spray hawk or something. A spray hawk is a hand pulled boom sprayer that’s about 6 ft wide.

3rd, you will need to look at multiple fertilizers and start thinking about how you are going to apply them. For greens liquid or granular that is mixed into liquid and then sprayed are the best options. An example is today we sprayed 30-0-0, 28-8-18, duraphite and Proxy.

4th, growth regulators, insecticides, soil surfactants and wetting agents. Start planning.

If you haven’t put down seed, plan on putting down about 3x the rate recommended.

[DShepley]

Thanks for the tips. Are you a greens keeper? I'm happy with my watering set up now and have added a quick connect so I can run a hand nozzle. Further, I have about 160' of hose between my house and the green and don't have enough water flow to run all of the sprinkler heads, (5), at once. To get around this, I have set up shut off valves on each sprinkler so I can water in zones which has been working pretty well. As for fertilizer, I have so far only used a Scott's starter fertilizer though I will need another solution for sure. The green was seeded on May 20th, (I used 3lbs on about 1300 square feet applied with a drop spreader), and most parts are showing pretty good signs of life. Since I am now past the germination period of the seed, I have and will continue to put down more seed in the spots that look thin, (I do need to be patient here and keep telling myself that it's only been a couple of weeks). I do enjoy daydreaming during my watering at dusk though....

[justasgood]

That is the best looking "Detour" I have ever seen....Scotty was so close.......

[mallrat]

I am, I’m an Asst super. but still learning.

A good general rule going forward Is when you start lowering the HOC (height of cut) or mow height, never lower it by more than 1/3rd. You might want to look into a hand roller think something like this...

I would keep the turf a little wetter than you think it needs to be. I think we used 32-0-10 when replanting our nursery but some might depend on your soil. You can make a pretty cheap spray rig, get a 15 gallon portable tank and hook up a small pump to it that runs off a battery. You can then connect it to a boom sprayer mounted on wheels here is the boom sprayer.

Feel free to pm me with any questions. Also where do you live? You might want to reach out to the super at your club about buying small amounts of chemicals off him For example if you live where it snows a snow mold application should be essential. If you have a drop spreader you can top dress with that and either drag or brush it in. They make small hand drag mats that should work great.

Watch out for the biggest turf disease there is... dog pee.

 

[DShepley]

Thanks. I have a hand roller like that though I find that my mower with the reels off does a nicer job. The mower is about 220lbs I think but it presses into the rear roller that is about 8" in diameter so it creates more ground pressure. For now as a sprayer, I have a 2 gallon pump sprayer that I think will work well enough for my needs. I also have a small drop spreader but it is a Scott's brand fertilizer spreader and I don't know that it will work well for top dressing so I may be doing it the old fashioned way by fanning it out with a square mouth shovel and brushing it in with a push broom.

[DShepley]

Busy watching grass grow....Today I added wood chip mulch and a bench for my school bus riders, (it will also come in handy for the night watering / beer drinking crew). Now I need to spread some soil round the edges of my sod and put some seed down. I also need to put sand in my bunker but not in a big hurry for that.

 

[justasgood]

Seems the side getting the most sun is having a germination issue. Is it being watered enough to keep it within temp. Range for growth?

[DShepley]

It's coming along now. Originally I only had 3 sprinklers running so I added 2 more to allow me to water in zones. It isn't so much the sun that dries it out but it has been windy for the past month almost every day. I did over-seed that area last week and I'm starting to see those seeds germinate now. It's a good thing I'm working from home still and able to run out to spot water now and then.

[DShepley]

I'm quite happy with the grow in so far considering it was only seeded 20 days ago. Some of the bare spots are showing signs of germination from the over-seeding I did last week. I think I may get the mower set up and ready for the first rolling and cutting by the end of the week.

[DShepley]

 

I thought it would be fun to show a picture of various stages. It's kind of like watching a pot boil and I never think there is much change, but it seems to be doing well. I read somewhere that cutting it seems to spur on the horizontal spread. I'm going to install the smooth front roller on my toro tomorrow and set up the cut height for a possible trim tomorrow afternoon or Friday. Of course it will need rolled first. Also....we finally got rain last night, (about 6/10 of an inch), and thunderstorms forecast for this afternoon. So far I've only watered today to water in some fertilizer otherwise it's been pretty good since it is so humid.

[mallrat]

To those talking about bunker sand. We redid our bunkers this year and have had to run the plate compactor over the sand 2 or 3 times and could do it another time or 2 but play isn’t really allowing it.

[J13]

Grass is really coming in! Any idea of when it will be a usable green? August maybe?

[DShepley]

I'm not really sure but I'm hoping by mid-August. I still don't see much horizontal spreading, (stolons), but read somewhere that cutting seems to stimulate this. I'm going to set the mower up for the first cut today, (cutting this afternoon or tomorrow), and trying to determine a starting height. Right now my mower has a grooved front roller and I have purchased a smooth roller that I need to install as well. Some of the grass is quite long so I am thinking 5/8" maybe? I'll need to leave it set at this height for a while until the green starts to fill in more, then my superintendent friend tells me to lower it by 1/3 of the blade height every 5 days until I get to my desired length, (maybe 5/32). So, by my math, once I start the process of lowering the cut height every 5 days, it will take me about 4 weeks to get to the final cut height.

[Admhowarth]

Great thread. Thanks for sharing.

[DShepley]

Okay....got the mower set up today, (installed a smooth front roller and set the cut height), and did the first mowing at 5/8". The good news is that the mower set up was pretty easy to manage and the grass mowed well. The bad news is that we got 1 3/4" of rain in a little over an hour and a half last night and it washed away a bunch of my newly germinated seed! Oh well, this will be a series of constant learning. SO...Tonight I will mix up a top dress mixture of sand, soil and peat moss and lightly dress the bare spots and apply more seed to the areas that require a lot of coverage. Still pretty happy with the progress so far and hoping the mowing encourages the grass to spread.

[DShepley]

Now....what a long night after supper but I was on a roll so kept going with it. First I mixed up a couple cart loads of top dress / seed mix by blending a ratio of 2 bags of black earth soil for every 1 bag of sand and top dressed the bare and thin spots. Then, I over-seeded the spots that were very thin where the seed had washed away from the rain last night. Next I applied a light dusting of peat moss before watering everything in. It looks a bit more sparse than after I first cut, but I think things will work out well. Also, kind of fond of my daughters pink shovel as a top dressing tool. I would have used a push broom but I'd like the roots to be a bit more established I think the broom would have been too aggressive compared to a very light back drag with the upside down rake.

[dcrocketman]

Here is a close up of my putting green tm

[DShepley]

 

I gave the new sod a trim today, now just back to watching grass grow. Next week I think I'll order my bunker sand.

[DShepley]

 

My morning coffee routine. So...I've learned some lessons the past week or so. First, I think I am fighting a bit of damping off. At first I thought it was mechanical damage from my mower as it showed up only after I first cut, and I discovered that my mower wasn't quite set up properly. On further inspection, the affected leaves look a bit greasy, so I expect pythium blight (Google). We had a big rain event about a week ago followed by some hot humid weather. Apart from this, the mistake I made, (hindsight is 20/20), is that because I had some over-seeded spots still germinating, I was watering the entire green as if it were new seeding (the mistake is so obvious now). So...too much water for the established grass. To remedy this and hopefully get back on track, I have changed my watering schedule so I am giving the established stands of grass water in the morning only as needed and the overseeded patches are being watered lightly and frequently by spot watering by hand with my garden hose. I do have some germination starting from the overseeding from last week which is encouraging. As well, I have also treated the green and hoping that stops more damage from occurring and gives the stronger grass a chance to grow through the stress. I have raised the bed knife on my mower as there wasn't sufficient contact with the reel and I have also ordered lapping compound so I can backlap the reel to clean it up. (I want to rule out mechanical damage). I am also going to arrange for my home course Superintendent to come by for a look. Anyway....wish me luck and thanks for following.