It has been 3 weeks since we have seeded the greens to aid in recovery of our playing surfaces. We have definitely seen some significant advancements in the greens despite having cooler temperatures for the first 14 days after seeding. By covering the greens with tarps we were able to slightly increase the the temperatures, and were effective in keeping the seed bed moist. We have achieved germination in most of the greens by doing this. Along side existing turf that survived the winter we have quite a bit of grass to work with.
This past week we warmer spring temperatures arrived! We have removed all of the covers until the next cool days, to allow the seedlings to have 100% sunlight. This also gave us the ability to put our first mow on all of the greens that have germinated. Some of the greens that are further along in recovery were mowed multiple times. The covers will be moved on and off the greens as needed during the recovery process, as we move through the variable weather cycles of spring.
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| #4 Green April 30th |
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| #4 Green May 9th |
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| #4 Green from 150 yards May 9th |
The visible differences are very positive and encouraging as in the above pictures of #4 Green. Our greens that have incurred more damage are slightly behind in growth. From afar our greens appear restored as new seedlings and existing turf give off a green hue. We have a lot of work ahead of us still, as we wait for the new seedlings to mature and start spreading laterally. Mowing, watering and fertilizer applications will be done frequently over the next weeks to encourage a denser surface.
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| New Bent grass seedlings on #7 greens |
