Agronomy Advisory Board Mailbag: Quarter Two

This mailbag column goes only so far as your questions can take it. To ask a question for quarter three, where the Agronomy Advisory Board will answer timely questions about budgeting for the new year, early order programs and more, click here.

Maybe we should start with what a mailbag column is. Simply put, a mailbag column is where the readers send the questions, and generally speaking, an expert answers, and our Agronomy Advisory Board, is just that. A panel of experts.

What we hope to achieve is an interactive opportunity for our members to learn more about VGM Club, our board members and the turfgrass profession as a whole. This is a living, breathing document that everyone can visit. Through our Agronomy Advisory Board, we have the wherewithal to provide you with timely, candid answers to your pressing questions from top industry minds. So without further ado, let’s get started.

Answers provided by Andy Jorgensen (On Top of the World Club), Shaun Donahue (Tidewater Golf Club), and Rick Tegtmeier (Des Moines Golf & Country Club).

Please discuss and explain the drawbacks of overseeding Bermudagrass fairways in the transition zone?

Andy: Here in Florida, the cooler months coincide with our busy golfing season. Historically, most golf courses would overseed playing surfaces each fall. However, many clubs have realized the great expense associated with establishing overseeding each year, and the negative impacts it has on playing conditions during spring transition. Likewise, Florida golf courses are mandated to follow a “water budget”, and overseeding can consume a large portion of the annual water allocation. Courses have begun opting away from overseeding, and begin using alternative products such as paints and pigments to color the shorter turf for the golfing season.

Shaun: When overseeding Bermudagrass fairways, and for that matter tees, fairways and roughs, you must realize that you are introducing an entirely new, and different, strand of grass onto the golf course property.  And although the grass is better adapted for winter physiologically, it is still another surface that needs to be managed completely different than the base Bermudagrass.  The growth habits are different with Ryegrass (the typical option for overseeding in the TZ).  Ryegrass is a clump type grass that grows more vertically and little horizontally versus Bermudagrass that is stoloniferous exhibiting a more horizontal than vertical growth habit.  The labor to maintain winter overseed needs to be realized as well.  More mowing, fertilizing, blowing, spraying are just some of the areas that will require increased labor costs.  The biggest drawback in my opinion though is what to do with all the extra turf that is going to die in the summer?  All of the plant material you spent the last four or five months planting and establishing is now clogging up and competing with the Bermudagrass that you need to maintain for the summer.  Increased verticutting, dethatching and aerifying are needed to promote Bermudagrass growth and provide a surface to reseed in the fall.

If overseeding does occur, how would one prepare for the summer?

Andy: Those that still overseed will begin to thin the overseeding to reduce competition with the emerging Bermudagrass plants beginning around mid to late March. This can be achieved by verticutting, lowering mowing heights, reducing irrigation to induce stress, and applying additional fertility to promote new Bermudagrass growth. Several Superintendents will even play around with products to chemically remove the strand. All of this coincides with regular play and end of season events.

Shaun: Luckily, Bermudagrass will or can grow just about anywhere with adequate water and sunlight.  As the late spring/early summer heat brings about the transition from Rye to Bermuda, how quickly the transition happens depends on personal preference – how long do you want to keep the Rye?  How much Bermuda do you have trying to fill in?  In our area of the transition zone, and particularly Myrtle Beach, we have package play all the way up to the second week of June.  Most years it is not a problem, however if it gets hot early the Rye will leave sooner.  If it stays cooler later and the Rye tries to hang on, we can spray it out with herbicides and/or increase fertilizer amounts to remove it through competition with the Bermudagrass.

Why are so many recommending and moving away from fairway overseeding?

Andy: As mentioned, water is a huge deal. Not overseeding can save millions of gallons each year. Additionally, loss of rounds during the establishment period and spring transition can impact the bottom line. It seems recovery from spring transition can extend all the way into October when seed is applied once again for the coming busy season. The availability of products such as pigments and paints has improved in recent years providing a feasible alternative to overseeding. Not overseeding also allows for pre-emergent herbicides to be applied where they could not be, further improving the control of winter weeds such as Poa annua.

Shaun: Because as good as the surface is in the winter, it’s a pain in the tail and the ROI sucks.

Sponsored Question: How can VGM Club members utilize Sunbelt Rentals for last minute projects to prepare for the upcoming on or off season?

Whether before, during, or after the season, Sunbelt Rentals has all of the equipment you need to either prepare for or react to unexpected events. From standby generators to shelter flooring, dehumidifiers and more, Sunbelt Rentals can provide everything needed for your facility. They also offer turnkey services including site planning, logistical support, delivery, installation, on-site fueling, and equipment removal. Add your account number to your VGM Club dashboard and you receive tiered, discounted pricing on daily, weekly and monthly rental fees.

What are the biggest grass problems, diseases that caused issues from winter months?

Shaun: With our Bermudagrass greens, the winters for us are our most stressful times, 180 degrees from the courses with Bentgrass.  Low to no growth, reduced sunlight, cold, low humidity, wind and moisture are all factors that we monitor throughout the winter.  Disease pressure is highest in the fall before winter dormancy and in the spring during green up.  We’ve been dealing with Take All Root Rot for the last few years as symptoms usually appear in the fall right before the grass stops growing.

Rick: There are two types of snow mold disease that happens over the winter – gray snow mold and pink snow mold.  Pink snow mold is a disease that may affect all cool season turf but is most damaging to bentgrass and Poa annua. The pathogen that causes it is called Microdochium nivale... Gray snow mold may affect all cool season turfgrass where there is extended periods of snow cover. The disease is caused by a Typhula pathogen.

The other “winter” problems that occur are winter desiccation. Desiccation is extreme dryness that occurs when water in the plant is lost at a faster rate than water is replaced.  Crown hydration damage continues to be one of the most destructive form of winter kill. This is a problem where turf is growing in wet conditions and the turf grass plant cells are saturated and they rupture from the freezing, killing the plant.

In the northern states, how far behind are courses with the extended colder weather?  

Rick: We measure growing degree days at our club. Growth degree days are a measure of heat accumulation used by turf professionals to predict plant development rates such as the date that a flower will bloom, an insect will emerge from dormancy, or a crop will reach maturity. Currently (late April), we are about three weeks behind where we have been the two previous years.

Want to ask a question to be included in our Agronomy Advisory Board: Quarter Three Mailbag? Click here. To learn more about VGM Club, visit www.vgmclub.com or call 800-363-5480.