bentgrass

As I say at the end of every year, it was another extraordinary year for studying grass around the world. In 2018 I took 107 flights for a total distance of 314,748 km (195,575 miles).

I’ve been writing a monthly column for Golf Course Seminar (ゴルフ場セミナー) since May of 2008. The articles are usually 2 pages. I wrote a couple 4 page articles when マイカの時間 The BOOK was published last year.

I had an open discussion today with a group of greenkeepers in Japan. We talked about a lot of things – bentgrass in summer, irrigation, fertilizer, organic matter management, roots, etc.

After last week’s post about the soil test levels where P deficiency symptoms were seen, Paul Johnson wrote to remind me about another experiment: “This is always a topic of interest to me, beginning with the study I did in the early 2000s.

When I see a photo like the P deficiency one shared by Ben Pease (see photo below), I am really curious to know the soil test levels of the element.

The idea that golf courses in Japan with the two green system have a summer green and a winter green is not quite correct. Nor is the two green system used exclusively with one warm-season grass green and one with cool-season grass.

Doug Soldat has photos showing more snow mold where potassium fertilizer was applied. Where potassium was not applied, there is less snow mold. Tried something new this year. Top left high K for six yrs, but no K after Aug 2016.

The recording of my webinar on preventing nutrient deficiencies is available in Spanish and in English. This was fun. I hope you’ll read the handout too. It is only 4 pages, with lots of white space, and gives a brief overview of this important topic.

I’m bombarded at this time of year with reminders, notices, descriptions, and articles telling me about the importance of frost delays. Apparently, frost delays are essential for the health of the turf.

Play on frosted bentgrass greens in Japan is not uncommon. Winston Mirmow’s thesis on Fall potassium fertilization and winter traffic effects on a creeping bentgrass putting green has some surprising results.