The Heat and Greens

We are making our way through most of the heat this summer. Now that August is here, nights are beginning to get longer and hopefully a little cooler.

During the high heat it is a good practice to prevent greens from stress. Our poa roots are not very deep and can turn south quickly. Cool season grass begins to hate life when the mercury rises above 90.

We monitor green speeds on a daily basis to ensure play-ability and health of the putting surface. Over the last couple of weeks we have lost some speed which is partly by design. We aim to have greens enter high stress periods healthy. We provide the plants and soil with the proper nutrients and soil amendments to survive.

We are also under pretty significant disease pressure. Afternoon storms, cloudy evenings and heavy dew patterns in the morning lead to wet plants for many hours each day. Prolonged wetness on leaf blades requires a fungicide program and extra care with certain practices while maintaining the course, specifically greens to prevent or protect them from disease.

This time of year the anthracnose disease can be troublesome on putting greens. It mainly attacks poa annua on the putting green. This is another reason why we aim to favor bentgrass populations.

This is also a time of year where we have to monitor and adjust growth regulation. Hot weather reduces the efficacy of some products. Too much regulation can slow recovery from stress or disease.