Monday, June 27, 2011

#2 Green


Several people have asked me about the spots on #2 green.  These spots are Annual Bluegrass under heat stress and is dying out.  Annual Bluegrass, or Poa, is a common weed in Bentgrass putting greens and has been slowly establishing itself for years.  Our new handwatering techniques and monitoring systems have allowed us to significantly reduce the amount of irrigation required to keep the Bentgrass healthy.  Besides improving the health of the Bentgrass, this reduction in water usage is also stressing out the Poa.  Poa needs more soil moisture than Bentgrass to survive the heat of the summer and since it isn't available, these plants are starting to die out.  Although #2 green looks funny now, in time the Bentgrass will fill in these spots and the amount of Poa will continue to decline.

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