Zoysia/Fairway Fertilization

Yesterday evening was a perfect time to begin our fairway fertilization.  The course was closed and the wind settled.  We are a couple of weeks late with this application due to the cooler than normal weather conditions and rain that we experienced.  As a part of this application, we must water in the product to keep some of the quick release ammoniacal nitrogen from burning the turf.  Usually a couple of turns of the heads is enough to get it activated and off of the leaf.  The heat of the last few days has increased the soil temperatures which is important for zoysia grass to begin its normal growth cycle. 

We will use about 5,000 pounds of fertilizer material on about 25 acres for our initial fertilization.  The rest of the summers application will be applied when we spray our Plant Growth Regulator(PGR) to keep the zoysia compact in its growth habit.  Less growth means less clippings which provide for a better overall appearance after mowing.  Without regulation, we would have to blow the clippings off of the fairways after each mowing that is completed in the early morning dew.  We will throw some soluble fertilizer in with our regulator to give the additional fertilization that the zoysia will need to be healthy and strong.

Water flying on #11 fairway to water in fertilizer. 

Venting Greens/Light verticutting

Yesterday was a busy day at the course.  No outings and the club was closed gave us plenty of opportunity to get some work accomplished on the greens.  We did a light verticutting, topdressing, dragging and finally finished the process with mowing.  We also began the process of venting our greens with our verti-drain aerator and needle tines.  Fourteen greens were completed yesterday and the other five were finished by 9:30 this morning.  This process will be completed every month and causes very little disruption to the green surface.   The benefits of this program include:

• Allows oxygen to exchange with carbon dioxide that can build up in the soil.
• Moisture can penetrate more quickly into the green and can allow it to wet more evenly.
• Oxygen entering the soil also dries the surfaces which provide for firmer and fast conditions.
• Assists in root development.

   

1/4" needle tines staggered 4 to a row and 2 rows per arm.