Turfgrass Update

Remember when we used to see grass in Denver?!

It's been a while.

The golf course has been closed since January 11th.

Just before that last cold stretch we took a couple samples of greens that we were a little suspect from the ice coverage. I'll let you be the judge.

The first photo was taken on Feb 28th. It was the day we finally got to the very front left of 12 green. We suspect it had almost 40 days of ice coverage. The plants looked pretty good once we were able to clear it of ice and snow. Leading up to the 28th we had 2-3 inches of solid ice. 12 green at one point was good enough for a hockey game.






The second photo was taken on Monday, March 4th after a few days inside the office. Pretty darn good. It is ready for a mow.




This is a practice I learned while in the mountains. It's a great way to forecast your spring. Sometimes in harsh climates, Mother Nature can really throw some curve balls and the turf can come up on the short end. Knowing in advance that your turf is dead can really help with making the comeback a much smoother process.

Losing grass is never fun, but it happens. It can happen to any turf manager. Winter stresses such as drought, traffic and ice can all be lethal if not handled appropriately. Ice can be the hardest because it is the toughest fight with Mother Nature.