Dealing with heat, humidity, and excess soil moisture

At this time of year, the heat, humidity, and soil moisture can wreak havoc on the grass, especially the greens. We do a couple of things to help aid the turfgrass in these difficult times.

If you think of the soil as a whole, then roughly 50% is made up of soil particles, 25% water, and 25% air. The percentages of air and water can fluctuate back and forth. When a soil gets very dry, there is a much higher percentage of air. When a soil is saturated, it can nearly eliminate all oxygen from the soil. The roots of the turfgrass need oxygen to survive.

High humidity means that the plant is not able to transpire as much as it needs, because there is not a lot of room for more moisture in the air. So this scenario arises: the sun is hot and the plant is dealing with the heat stress, it can’t cool itself properly because the air won’t take enough moisture, and then its roots are being deprived of oxygen so it is also suffocating. This is a common event in late July, especially when an early afternoon thunderstorm comes through and afterwards the sun cranks right back up.

Our first step is to needle-tine the greens, which you can read more details about here. This is a very minimally disruptive aerification process that allows us to increase the oxygen in the soil by poking small holes in the ground. It is a great tool and does not interfere much with playability at all. If you don’t see us do it, you may never know we did it all. 2/3 of the greens have been completed and the remainder will be done this week.

Also, on one of our weaker greens, #17, we will have the portable fan out periodically to help with air movement. Since the plants are not able to transpire regularly due to the humidity, we use the fan to move the air across the green and increase evaporative cooling. Now, the plant can cool itself better, and the excess moisture can evaporate off the surface.

Summer is at its toughest right now. We will do anything we can to help the greens survive until the weather turns more favorable.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please leave bunker rakes IN the bunkers when you are finished.

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org