Seeding Day! The green is ready to be planted. The soil used on the greens is 90% USGA specified sand and 10% peat moss for organic content. But the soil still needs to be amended with necessary nutrients for proper seed development. The first product used is Calcium. In our soils Ca is helpful to keep soils loose for root development and balances pH.
Other products include essential nutrients such as Potassium, Phosphorous, Iron, Boron, Manganese, Magnesium and Nitrogen. The nitrogen comes in slow release organic sources.
Humates are also used. Since our new soil has little to no nutrient value, humates go a long way to building that process. They provide humid and fulvic acid. Humates are natural in soils, but not found in a new greens mix. They help hold water in the soil for root uptake. They are also used as a biostimulant to support beneficial fungi and existing fertilizers.
The seeding process was a little different from normal. In order to preserve some of the same characteristics of the old putting green we preserved the cores from the old green. Those cores have poa seed and plants in them. They were hand spread evenly onto the green. They also create a nice seed bed for the bentgrass seed to follow.
Following the cores we spread a new bentgrass variety that we have been experimenting with for the last couple of seasons. The new variety is called Pure Distinction. I have been thoroughly impressed with this variety and expect really good results. I am not aware of many greens in Colorado with Pure Distinction but it is wildly popular in the Mid West and on both coasts.
Once the seed was in place we rolled the entire green to smooth out the surface. Rolling presses the seed into the soil. Contact with the soil is extremely important to provide the water and nutrients the seed requires to crack open and develop.
Pictured here is the old tee top mix piled up on the side of the tee waiting for the drains and irrigation to be compete.
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