Go away wind!

Just a quick update as we head into this very critical week in the world of growing grass at VCC. A couple things happen this week that are key to the success of our new crop of ryegrass.

1. We are still germinating seed that was stubborn and slow to germinate. Typically areas that are a drier or more exposed take longer to germinate. In order to make sure we get good germination in those areas we will be scouting for them during the day and applying supplemental irrigation.
2. Our first mowing of the tees and fairways will be taking place this week. Mowing the turf causes a physiologically change within the plant. It promotes the ryegrass seedling to start tillering. Tillering is when the plant produces more shoots from the crown area of the plant and creates a denser turf canopy.
3. We will make our first fertilizer application to the tees and fairways. The nutrients that will be applied are designed to encourage tillering and production of a dense root system.

The problem that this week brings is the wind. The wind creates havoc for us in a couple ways. First, it just makes a mess and detracts from the beauty of the course. On a more practical level it creates a mess that must be cleaned up prior to us mowing and fertilizing. The dilemma that we face due to the tenderness of the juvenile rygrass seedlings is we cannot utilize some of our heavy equipment to pick up the debris. Therefore, we have to pick up the all of those branches, leaves and twigs by hand. Secondly, the wind dries out the surface of the ground. The tender ryegrass seedlings have a very small and inefficient root system at this stage. In order for the seedlings to survive in the dessiciating winds we must judicously apply water on a frequent basis.

At this stage in the game I am optimistic about the results of our overseeding. The cool night time temps and high winds over the past 4 days have slowed the progress, but the weather forecast for the rest of week is perfect for establishment of our winter time turf.