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Fairways, Fescue, and a Few Small Rocks



The dry weather over the last week has allowed the Hidden Glen maintenance staff to make some nice progress on some very important projects.  If you have recently played, you have likely noticed that all fairways have been aerified.  Unlike last fall’s core aeration, our current solid tine aerification is a very clean process.  While core aerfication is very beneficial in reducing thatch and organic matter in the soil, solid tine aerification specializes in reducing compaction.  At Hidden Glen we are fortunate to use a newly purchased tractor and Wiedenmann XF aerifier.  This machine drives solid tines up to 10 inches into the ground and fractures the soil.  The benefits of this process are improved rooting and drainage.  These are both key components to maintaining healthy turf in the stressful summer months.  With the upcoming warm weather, the pencil-sized holes will heal very quickly.


The other major project that is currently underway is fescue weed management.  Since the quality of fescue native areas has declined in recent years, a comprehensive management plan has been initiated to make them both more visually appealing and playable.  The two major keys to the plan are weed and irrigation management.  Since irrigation management applies directly to when our irrigation system is used heavily used in the summer months, we will discuss this portion of the management plan in a later blog post.  Currently the initial phase of our weed management plan is underway.  This involves three herbicide applications to all fescue areas.  These applications consist of a pre-emergent herbicide, post emergent herbicide, and a herbicide that will eliminate grassy weeds over time.  These three applications will be supplemented with spot treatments and mechanical removal of weeds in the summer months.  Our program at Hidden Glen very closely resembles those of other very prominent courses within the state that maintain fine fescue native areas.  Special thanks to team member Corey Betz for designing our boomless nozzle setup on our sprayer.  Without this design, spraying the severe undulations of the fescue areas would have been almost impossible.

On a side note, the guys have been removing a few “small rocks” from the bunkers.


 
Posted: 4/30/2015 3:36:42 PM by Garrett Luck | with 0 comments
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