Watering after rain

Deciding when to water after rain is one of the most difficult nuances of turf management. Wait too long, and the turfgrass can suffer from drought. Water too soon, and many different problems associated with over saturation come into play. This has been an especially difficult summer for making this decision.

Starting back in spring, the rain came often. This is a poor time for the greens to receive too much water. While springs are usually “wet”, above normal rainfall can be detrimental to plant development.  Ideally, in the spring, we force the roots to drive down into the soil to find more water, by controlling water availability and depth. Instead they easily found adequate supplies much nearer the surface because of the rain. The roots were “lazy”; they didn’t have to search for food and water so they never grew deep.

Flash forward to currently, and the roots are even shorter after a long and stressful summer. Traffic (golfer and maintenance), heat, humidity, pests, and poor oxygen exchange have all contributed to the ever-shrinking root system, which happens naturally during the summer regardless. We use all available strategies to keep as much root mass as possible for as long as possible, but by this time of year it is at its smallest and weakest, so the plant takes up all nutrients and water closer to the surface.

How does all of this correspond to watering after a rain storm? As the rain infiltrates the soil and percolates down through the profile, for a certain period of time it is in the rootzone, where the plants can access it. Once it is past this zone, the water is of no use to the turf. With the current short roots of late summer, the uptake zone is very small. So even though the ground may feel wet, or it may have rained only two days prior, the plants may still need some supplemental water because the rain water is no longer available.

With the heat and humidity of late summer, adding more water can be the worst thing to do. You can read here about what too much water can do and the diseases to which it can lead. However, plants that are suffering from drought stress need water to stay alive, no matter what other conditions may be present. So, we use all of the tools and resources we have to determine where water is needed and accurately apply it to those locations only and in only the amount needed for survival. The extra difficulty of this season arises from the fact that we have been fighting these watering decisions since the middle of July.  The volume of rain that we have received since the middle of July has been unprecedented and therefore caused a tough summer to turn into a very difficult summer.

Nevertheless, greens have held up reasonably well and have bounced back from aeration. Once we get a break from the humidity and get some cooler nights, recovery can begin.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please enter and exit all bunkers on the low side. While this may result in slightly more distance to rake, it will keep the sod on the face of the bunker from tearing. It is also much safer! Thank you.

Also, as part of a Golf Committee initiative to improve course etiquette, we have included links to videos teaching proper on course etiquette. Please take a moment to watch:

Ball Marks - How to properly repair

Bunker etiquette

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org