Many weather records have been broken this winter so far. With this kind of weather, turf (in particular greens) can go through changes that have many different outcomes. Academic research, has shown that certain turf species can survive under ice for different lengths of time. Annual Bluegrass (Poa Annua) has been said to last only 45-90 days under ice. Bentgrass can survive up to 120 days.
With that said, we have sampled greens at an interval of 2 samples per week since late December. Thankfully, the turf looks good within these samples. There is a lot of winter left and the worse conditions may still be coming. Crown hydration may still be an issue when the "big" melt happens. We are closely monitoring the turf conditions and will continue to do so throughout the rest of this record breaking winter.
We have also created a testing area on the one of our practice greens. This area will give us valuable insight into how removing snow can affect ice layers on turf. Our hope is to learn as much as we can about the timing of snow or ice removal, techniques to remove ice, and how different weather patterns can affect these decisions. We have also brought plugs from greens into the shop to see how they grow out of dormancy. Thus far, the plugs have grown out of dormancy well.
For further information check out the MSU Turf Teams blog at
http://www.msuturf.blogspot.com/2014/03/ice-and-poa-survival-update.html. Click here for a letter from Drs. Frank and Vargas from MSU
http://www.migcsa.org/uploads/Winterkill-Letter-2014.pdf.
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| Plugs that have been removed from greens so far. |
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| Snow removal on the Old Putting Green |
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| Turf inspection |
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| After clearing a portion of the green. |
