MSU Turf Update

4-25-2013

Spring Flooding of Turf

In the last week heavy rains blanketed most of the state resulting in streams and rivers overflowing their banks and many low lying areas flooding. The water has slowly started to subside and turf that was flooded may be exhibiting damage symptoms. Factors that determine turf survival under water include: turfgrass species, submergence duration, submergence depth, water temperature, and light intensity.
Turfgrass species differ in their ability to survive flooding. Unfortunately there are no hard fast numbers such as Kentucky bluegrass will survive 5 days and creeping bentgrass 15 days under water. Instead species have been assigned relative submersion tolerance ratings: creeping bentgrass – excellent, Kentucky bluegrass – medium, Poa annua and perennial ryegrass – fair. As submergence depthincreases the potential for injury increases. If the leaf tissue is above the water line – even just a little bit – the turf will probably survive. On golf courses many have observed creeping bentgrass floating on the edge and even growing out into a lake. This is a perfect example of turf surviving when partially submerged. The final two factors affecting turf survival are water temperature and light intensity. Both of these factors are working in our favor right now as the air and water temperatures have been cool. Flooding during the summer months when temperatures are higher often result in damage to the turf when it’s submerged for even a short time.

Many golf courses in flood plains have flooded.
As the water recedes, the turf may be yellow or brown. The discoloration is related to the turf losing its ability to take up nutrients. It doesn’t take long once turf is submerged for soil oxygen levels to decline and root hairs to begin to die. As the root system becomes impaired, nutrient extraction and water uptake will be limited. Keep this in mind once the water has receded as the turf may benefit from a light fertilizer application. To assess if submersion has caused injury, extract several plants from the flooded site and cut a horizontal cross section through the crown. If the crown is white and firm – it has survived. If the crown is brown and mushy – it’s dead, so time to develop a reestablishment plan. Finally, for those areas that were flooded due to a stream or river overflowing a bank you are probably dealing with silt or soil deposition. Removal of soil deposition can be difficult and seeding into the deposited soil can be an option. Once successfully reestablished soil cultivation such as core aeration or slicing will benefit the turf by breaking through deposited soil layers to facilitate rooting and water infiltration.

Kevin W. Frank
Associate Professor and Extension Turf Specialist
MSU Turf Team

Rainy Day Work

At times the grounds crew and I are forced to work inside during or after heavy rainfall events.  This was the case on several days over the past two weeks.  These particular indoor work days were used to complete a few shop improvements that have been needed for a long time. 

Project #1 was to clean.  All of the buildings were swept and our breakroom/bathroom area was mopped.

Project #2 was new ceiling lights in our 3rd building.  This building was built in 2004 and since then a single light has been lighting the 30' x 60' space.  Inadequate to say the least.  The building is now brightly lit by 19 energy effficient fluorescent lights. 

Project #3 included organization of the 2nd building.  This building has been plagued by inadequate floor space for parking equipment, which leads to restricted and/or no areas to walk.  The major reason for this safety issue has been the many pallets of fertilizer that come in every spring were stored on the floor.   

To remedy this issue we purchased a number of pallet racks and spaced them according along the back wall of the building.  Equipment can be parked under the pallet rack shelving, while pallets of fertilizer and divot mix are stored above.

 

   

April Showers

Over the past 2 weeks we have received a total of 4 inches of rain. The first rain showers of the previous week were needed as we were actually very dry.  That 1 inch of rain was soon soaked up by the ground and we were able to mow greens and fairways this past Sunday. 

The remaining 3 inches of rain came this past week between Tuesday and Thursday.  Of which, 2.5 inches was over a one day period.  Heavy rainfalls such as this result in swollen ponds and additional water hazards on the course. 

2 pond from Entrance drive

Path behind 11grn/10T

2 pond looking toward the green from left rough.

2 pond looking toward the Hamlet parking lot.

Propane Tank Movement

Last Wednesday we moved our propane tank that supplies the heaters in our main building at the grounds department. We did this too improve parking for our equipment during the day. The 1,000 gallon tank was moved from the west side of the building to the east side with help of an excavator. A trench was also dug for the gas supply line which was later installed by our propane supplier.

Each year we make improvements to our facilities to increase our operating efficiency and this project will definitely help with that.

Spring (Still feels like winter) Work

After the coldest March on record we have only been able to spend the last week and a half outside. Stumps leftover from the tree trimming/removal project were ground down and a portion of last week was spent cleaning up the grindings. We began filling them with topsoil at the end of last week and will finish the job this week.

Stick cleanup is at the top of our priority list at the moment and it will continue into next week.