Its been a while since I've made a blog post. I'm making daily posts regarding course opening, carts and practice range restrictions or lack thereof on social media. Allow me a few moments to expand upon the work we have completed this fall so far and what there is to come.
We attempted to delay any aeration of main playing sources until we've gotten through most of our calendar of events in September and October. We began the aeration work around our greens using a 1/2" coring tine after slit seeding fescue around the greens to improve our coverage of turf grass. Our process included slit seeding, then aerating, spreading seed with a rotary spreader and then dragging in the material to make good soil contact and mowing. We should get seed germinating in the areas over the next couple of weeks and will then mature in the spring. We plan on using our rough aerator that makes a little bit larger hole a further out on the green surrounds over the next week or two which will improve its overall health as well.
We will begin to use our pull behind rough aerator in our rough soon as time and weather permits. Cores or plugs are pulled and we use a metal drag to break them up. This assists in reducing compaction and helps with stimulating new growth in our rough plants.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4cVFB2DlRQ
Greens aeration will begin on Monday, November 1st. Depending upon conditions for the first day, it might take us a 2nd day or so to finish up the last few greens. We will use our deep tine verti-drain aerator and go about 7-8" deep. The holes will be filled with sand and surfaces brushed to smooth them
out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ0xEew0b9I
Our warm season turf grass zoysia was fertilized with potassium in September to assist it with winter hardiness. It thickens the cell walls and improves water and energy uptake. As zoysia goes into dormancy, it is storing energy which assists it in fighting off excessive cold temperatures.
We applied fertilizer to our cool season rough grass in the past couple weeks which will assist in providing new energy for our turf. As temperatures begin to fall, it utilizes less energy and begins to store energy for the next season. Once cold temperatures arrive in late November and early December it goes into a form of dormancy even though it is fairly green. The stored energy then allows the plant to green up a little earlier than non-fertilized turf.
A couple of weeks ago, I asked our contracted tree expert Tim Gamma to come out on property and assist me in evaluating trees that have been damaged by the gall over the past year or two that should be removed. There are 35-40 trees that were identified for removal in which 21 are Pin Oaks. There are a few Ash, Siberian Elms and Maples in which some were damaged by this summer storms and or have been scheduled for removal over the past year which make up the total number of trees. Some of these trees will be removed completely by our staff but others will require assistance from our contractor. They will top them leaving a stub and we remove the large limbs that can't be chipped and the log. Our budget does not have the funds in it to remove all the trees. GM Tim Grossman and the Board are working through the finances to determine the number of trees we can remove with the available finances.
We made our last mowing early last week on our zoysia tees, approaches and fairways. They might grow slightly over the next week or two and will then go into dormancy as our temperatures get cold enough for frost. We have also made our large patch zoysia fungicide application over the past few weeks to reduce the effects of the disease. The fall application of the fungicide assists in reducing the severity of the disease in the spring but we also must make another application in the spring to keep the disease under complete control.
Thanks again to the Foundation for the recognition of the work accomplished over the years here at Glen Echo by our staff.
The following statements were made by Dr. Lee Miller, University of Missouri Extension turf grass Pathologist. They were opening remarks to his last four messages over the past two months. He supplies biweekly reports regarding turf grass issues that are being seen throughout our region. He talks about what he is seeing and then discusses potential cultural practices that have proven effective to improve turf conditions. Of course, when most of the issues are environmental and or weather related, one has to wait and be patient before real and effective improvement is seen. 4/5/19
March madness may be over, but the consistent wet and cool weather pattern seems to be sticking around in MO. Temperatures are slated to rise slightly over the next few days, and infection of zoysia grass by the large patch pathogen will presumably be occurring. The over abundance of rainfall may not only flood the Missouri River, but also result in a flood of large patch in the region.
"This wet weather pattern is shaping a severe season for this disease, and this weekend's warm-up will likely get large patch pressure cooking. With the amount of rain the region has experienced, I expect fall fungicide applications may not be entirely sufficient for control and spring applications may be necessary.”
4/23/19
The wet winter and spring is causing some head or belly aches for some zoysia managers in STL and mid MO. The wettest winter since 1984-85 and subsequent cool and rainy spring pattern has resulted in slow, and perhaps no, green-up thus far. Widespread winter kill of well maintained ‘Meyer’ zoysia would be a first since I arrived in 2010.
"Several reports in the last week have expressed extreme concern over the lack of zoysia green-up, and the potential for large amounts of winter kill on some golf courses and home lawns. As mentioned previously, the 2019 winter was the wettest since 1984-85, and the 5th wettest on record.”
5/14/19
Spring is running about 50-70 base 50 growing degree days slower than last year, but most plants and spring turf grass diseases are in full bloom. This week’s warm up will hopefully spark warm-season grasses out of their slumber, and let worried turf grass managers and homeowners know if the wet winter won the battle.
6/4/19
A ton going on in the past week, and unfortunately a lot of it falling from the sky. Preliminary reports are that May probably will be the wettest on record in Missouri and those in Kansas City broke the record for sure with an astounding 12.82” in the month. Winter kill reports on warm-season grasses are also widespread across the state. In the good news category, cool-season grasses are faring well in this mild weather.
Even though it seems that rain has never let up, we have been able to make progress on the golf course. The wet conditions have still made it difficult to mow regularly but when we have been given a little open window, we have been able to improve overall conditions throughout the course over the last couple of weeks.
We just fertilized our warm season tees about 10 days ago. We hope to get our fairways fertilized soon but conditions have been so wet and or storms being predicted that we did not want to lose the benefits of the fertilizer so we have delayed this application. We use about 5-6,000 pounds so its important to make sure most of it stays on our property at Glen Echo.
We are starting to see some growth in the fairways even without the fairway fertilizer. We mowed last Friday and Monday and there were some clippings beginning to accumulate from the mowers so we are getting growth.
The slowest that I've had greens to heal after aeration over the last 10 years at Glen Echo. When we completed the aeration in March, our average temperature model was about two weeks behind last year. As we moved closer to May 1st things began to tighten up. We had a number of night time lows below freezing which stunted the healing process in March and April. We also provide significant growth regulation in the early spring to our greens to reduce the impact of seed heads in the stand of poa annua we have throughout our putting surfaces.
Our control this season was exceptional for the most part but it did significantly effect the healing process. Once we were a month into seeing the holes were not closing, we allowed our regulators to run out. From around May 1st on the greens have not been regulated but have been very slow to grow. This is mostly due to wet soil conditions and reduction of overall sunlight. We've been able to mow one day and roll the next because of the slow growth. As we have begun to warm, we have been increasing to almost daily mowing to improve ball roll. We have also started rolling on days that we mow to increase roll out.
We've had pretty good success in combating large zoysia patch on fairways with just a spring application of fungicide but this season was not very good. Probably the worst I've seen in the 29 years I've been in the business. It does thin the turf but once we apply a curative application, the disease usually begins to go into check and the grass begins to fill in. We will probably do a fall application on the most severely impacted fairways this season to discourage a repeat performance in the spring of 2020. There are still some areas of activity but they are smaller in scope and should begin to fade as temperatures increase and the rain hopefully subsides.
We've also treated fairy rings that have popped up as well. Most are in check but some appear to have loss of turf. We will replace these over the next couple of weeks.
Over the last 10 years, we have worked diligently on attempting to corral the berrmuda grass in our fairways and intermediate through mostly chemical treatments but also with sodding. We have some areas that need repair and we will work on those over the next couple of weeks.
We will be spraying our healthiest fairways where the bermuda is beginning to pop up in small spots to allow the zoysia grass to spread and improve. We will also begin to aerate fairways and tees as conditions begin to dry. We will probably not do a large scale aeration operation but will be foreced to do individual fairways at a time during the month of June. Our goal is eliminate the disruption of the fairways before the end of June to allow our zoysia to heal and be in great shape from July 4th through the end of October. We have spent tens of thousands of dollars on chemicals, sod and man-hours improving these surfaces and will continue this work. We do not want to take steps backwards.
We have been pretty lucky here at Glen Echo this season on the amount of total turf loss we've experienced in our zoysia. Some clubs have had to replace complete fairways. We have a few isolated areas. Our thin areas will begin to improve as we dry, warm up and apply nutrients.
The staff have worked very hard at keeping damage to a minimum while operating equipment which has caused some difficult conditions for you and the game you love to play. Last week, we were able to string trim around all trees through Hole 15. We've been able to do a little less push mowing of certain areas. I still warn you if you are in the lowest area of a hole, it is probably the wettest spot and could lead to damage or a cart being stuck so be careful out there.
We've been for the most part hand raking bunkers this spring to allow the sand that we added in late winter to firm. Two tee looks great but was very slow to set roots but we finally opened it last weekend. We added about a foot of dirt to the surface which had to firm causing additional delays in our sod being laid. Much different than the fifth tee last season which was basically leveled on the existing surface. A few limbs and or small trees will be removed to increase sunlight which will be necessary for the zoysia to flourish on this new teeing ground.
One of the things that my experience has taught me is to remain patient. I've come to understand that most of the difficulties we face as turf managers comes from within and being impatient and trying to force mother nature and do too much. Mother nature always wins these battles so I remain patient and attempt to not freak out like the guy below. Hope to see you on the golf course soon!
Every spring we are faced with a disease on our zoysia/Bermuda fairways, tees and surrounds. This disease is a fungus called large patch on zoysia. This disease normally begins its infection in the fall and will lay dormant over the winter. Once proper temp and moisture levels are reached, the infection begins to come active. I spot sprayed some patches about two weeks ago. More wet conditions and perfect temps have created additional outbreaks.
As moisture begins to moderate and temps rise to mid 80's or higher and soil temps increase, the disease becomes less active and the turf begins to out grow the disease activity.
You can recognize the actively diseased sections because they have an orange ring around the margins. In 99.9. % of the cases. The turf usually comes back without any issue within a few weeks that heat arrives and we fertilize. We keep fertilizer off the fairways until the patch subsides because fertilizer can encourage expansion of the disease if still active.
Monday was the last day we mowed fairways at the normal summer cutting height. The growth has slowed with the shorter light period and cooler nights. We raise the height to allow the turf to begin to store energy for winter and to help protect it from the cold temperatures we will experience.
We will probably mow the turf at the new height for a couple of more weeks and will then allow it to go into dormancy a little taller. Best year for zoysia that I have seen in a long time.
Assistant Mike spent the first two days this week applying our Large Patch on Zoysia treatment. This application is made to all tee, fairway, and green surround areas that contain zoysia to help reduce the negative of effects of this disease next spring which is the time of year that our zoysia is more susceptible to the disease. If we waited to apply the material next spring at a curative rate, the disease would be much more difficult to control and the disease do more damage to our turf. The fall preventative application does not always prevent the disease from occurring but it does slow its overall affect.
Here is the link to last fall and spring postings regarding large patch if you are interested in further reading.
Its interesting in the activity of the disease from one year to the next. Last year, we had activity as early as August 31st. This season, I've seen just a couple of minor spots on September 25th.
Every late April to early May, large patch on zoysia becomes active. The link in the previous sentence discusses home lawns but does a good job in explaining the disease. We completed a full course application on all fairways, tees and green surrounds that consists of zoysia in the fall to reduce the effects of the disease when it becomes more active in the spring. We then spot treat the areas where the disease develops in the spring with a curative application of fungicide. Very rarely does this disease completely kill an area where new sod is required.
Our most active area is the drive landing area on #10 fairway.
The picture below is of an active patch on #10 fairway. Usually, the margins around the outside of the disease has a tendency to be slightly orange in color which is the most active area of the disease. The turf can become slightly matted in more severe situations.
In the spring, I posted pictures of some large patch in some of our zoysia. We do a preventative treatment for the disease in the early fall on all of our zoysia areas including tees, fairways and green surrounds which totals over 30 acres of fungicide to be applied. The preventative treatment in the fall is then followed up with a spot curative treatment in the spring where we only treat actively visible disease. Spring activity is usually more severe because the turfgrass is weak coming out of winter and the soil has a tendency to be wetter in the spring which keeps the disease more active for a longer period of time.
Early last week, I noticed some pretty serious discoloration on the lake side of the 15th tee box. I investigated it later in the week and thought it could be damage from the Hunting Billbug larvae/grub which we have had some issues in the past. As I got closer to it I could see that it was actually large patch in zoysia. If memory serves me right, I don't think I have ever seen this disease work in August. The cool soil temperatures made conditions right for this disease to become active. We will probably have to do a spot treatment in this area and will probably begin to apply our preventative treatment in the next 7-10 days or so.
What a strange season it has been!
This spot is actually on the tee surface of #15 main tee and is on the left side of the tee and goes down in front of the tee. The outer edge of the circle is orange in color and shows that the fungus is actually growing and active.
The right front corner of 15 tee bank. My first thoughts were of insect damage but it turns out it is large patch on zoysia actively chewing away on this tee bank. This tee does face to the west but is under some pretty serious shade issues from 2 large oak trees behind the 14th green. We also have some moisture issues on this tee since the back of the tee is at ground level and excess runoff from the 10th fairway keeps this tee above average in moisture content.
Last week, I posted some information regarding Large Patch on Zoysia. We made a curative treatment on a number of areas which broke out in the disease last week. It appears that most if not all the areas are now in check or have stopped being actively attacking the turf.
The 1st photo is the picture of the disease actively growing which I posted with the original information. The orange ring around the outside shows the activity level.
The 2nd photo shows the straw discoloration from the disease but you do not see any bright orange ring. It appears the fungicide did its job.
