A new season is beginning in the Northeast as putting green covers are being removed in the northern part of the region and annual bluegrass weevils are crawling around to the south. A common topic of discussion when aeration is planned is how fast the greens will heal, especially when growth is sluggish in early spring. Spring temperatures are unpredictable, which makes scheduling things like nitrogen applications and aeration challenging. Ultimately, when temperatures are low and the turf is not growing much, applying nitrogen will not stimulate growth to encourage healing. Instead, the nitrogen can fuel organic matter accumulation and/or remain in the soil for uptake when temperatures rise, causing excessive growth and other surface performance problems.
Collecting and measuring clippings is a great way to tell how much or how little the turf on your golf course is growing. This information is especially helpful early in the season. If clipping volume (not weight) is low, this may be a function of soil temperature. As growing temperatures arrive, there may be enough nutrients in the soil to support healthy turf, so don’t create unnecessary growth with nitrogen applications. Instead, be patient and provide supplemental fertilizer when clipping volumes decline after the initial flush of growth.
In an ideal world, superintendents would have the flexibility to schedule spring aeration once growth and clipping volumes naturally start to increase. Unfortunately, the calendar at most courses doesn’t leave much room to adjust spring cultural practices based on weather trends. Regardless of when you perform aeration, clipping volume data will help set expectations about recovery time. If clipping volumes are low at the time of aeration, that likely means a longer recovery. Tracking this information year over year makes it easier to explain how aeration may be affected by the current year’s weather.
Entering clipping volume data into the USGA’s DEACON® management system along with temperatures and nitrogen applications will help you tell the story of spring growth with easy-to-understand charts. If you haven’t done much putting green data collection in the past, there’s no time like the present to begin. The Green Section Record article “A Quick-Start Guide to Putting Green Data Collection” will help you get the ball rolling. If you have any questions about measuring or interpreting clipping volumes, reach out to your regional USGA agronomist.
Northeast Region Agronomists:
Darin Bevard, senior director, Championship Agronomy – dbevard@usga.org
Elliott L. Dowling, regional director, East Region – edowling@usga.org
Brian Gietka, agronomist – bgietka@usga.org
