Roundup on Bermuda grass

One can tell it is truly the heart of winter by looking at the color of the dormant Bermuda grass on the fairways and tees. The signature straw color of the turf strikes a sharp contrast to the relatively bright green of the cool season turf in the rough. But the other striking contrast is the cool season weeds in the fairway turf. These clumps of annual bluegrass, ryegrass, fescue, other grasses and broadleaf plants are unsightly and can affect playability.

Due to weather conditions last year, both snow cover and an exceptionally wet spring, we were unable to spray Roundup on the fairways. Everyone who was out last spring remembers the incredible weed infestation we had in the Bermuda grass. Not only were we unable to make a chemical application to control the weeds, but we were unable to get our machines out to mow the weeds down. With the plants growing freely, the appearance was regrettable.

With prudent planning and some favorable weather, however, this year we were able to make the Roundup application this past week. Weeds in the fairways will be killed, leaving only the dormant Bermuda grass. A second benefit of this application will be seen around the edge of the fairways, in the step cut. Over time, cool season rough grass slowly moves into the Bermuda grass step cut, leading to an undefined edge between step cut and primary rough. This invasion from the cool season rough alters playability and is an eyesore. By spraying the edge between the Bermuda step cut and the rough we can create a crisp line that clearly denotes step cut to rough, again increasing the aesthetic value of the fairways. While some people don’t like the dormant look of Bermuda grass and would much rather have green turf to play on year-round, most can agree that a mono-stand of dormant Bermuda grass is more attractive and plays better than dormant turf mixed with several species of weeds.

In addition, this last fall we were able to make a pre-emergent herbicide application as well. What this did was prevent any weed that had not already germinated from growing in the fairways. The result was fewer weeds in the fairways as we entered dormancy. Fewer weeds meant that for the Roundup application we were able to make a spot spray, meaning there were large areas with no weeds that we did not spray at all. This can be seen in the pictures. The straw colored turf was not sprayed while right next to it the blue/green colored turf was sprayed. Now, between limiting weeds from growing in the fairways and using Roundup to kill any remaining weeds, in short time we should have very clean Bermuda grass. The Roundup application also is a very cost-effective way to manage weeds in the fairways. Making an application now coupled with the pre-emergent herbicide of the fall can save us thousands of dollars come spring time, even possibly completely eliminating an entire chemical application.

Last year was a perfect storm and prevented us from controlling the weeds. This year, we have already improved upon last year, but we don’t want to settle for just making it a little better than last year, we are looking to make large strides and present the absolute best conditions possible. With this recent application, we are on that track.

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org