Burning Prairie

We were able to burn our no mow areas where we have prairie grass today.  This is the right side of 4 fairway.  The burning rejuvenates the prairie by removing excess leaf litter and duff allowing more plants to flower, produce seed and grow taller.  It also increases available nutrients through indirect stimulation of microbial activity in the soil and releasing nutrients from the ash.  Burning exposes the darkened soil and allows sunlight to warm the soil quicker and extend the growing season for warm season native plants.  The fire also suppresses many weeds and non native invasive cool season grass.  Below is some pictures of the burn.

 Before

 Before

 Karen lighting it up

 Rob is spreading fire

 Now we are cooking

 It was a perfect day very little wind

 Finishing up. That is some very intense heat.

Maple Syrup Time

We Tapped our Maple trees last Friday.  With the warm up sap will be flowing.  It take about 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of Maple syrup.   I am optimistic we can get more than enough sap to make a big batch of Maple syrup for a pancake breakfast.

Placing spile into tree

 Installed spile

Big trees can have up to 3 taps.  We use tubing for big tree to condense sap to one bucket 

Smaller trees we hang buckets on spile.

Karen the Pyromaniac

Karen has been busy burning all the grasses throughout the golf course.  Below is shot s of grasses on # 4 tees. The grasses put out some extreme heat.

 Burning helps grasses come back much faster in the spring.

Winter Maintenance

We are in winter mode here at shop.  Lots of thing going on at once.  We have started reconditioning our equipment.  It looks like a tornado has hit the shop.  We have equipment parts everywhere.  We are tearing down our reel mowers and sharpening them on our single blade reel  grinder.  This process get our mowers ready for a long growing season.  This takes almost 2 months to complete.  We have 30 sets of reels and bedknifes to grind.  We also are working on our rotary mowing equipment.  fixing lose and broken parts on the decks. Our tee markers, ball washers, bird houses, are all being reconditioning also.

 Lastec deck being reconditioned

 Reels ready to be ground

 Reel on grinder

 Rob grinding fairway mowing reel

New paint on tee markers

 



Tree Damage

We lost a Ash tree today.  With the strong winds one of the forks of this Ash tree broke off.  Their is quite a bit of rot in the place of the break.  This tree is on hole # 2 between cart path and fairway.

Fore The Golfer: Frost Delays and Turfgrass Health

Below is video from USGA on frost delays.

Frost Delays

We are in that time of year that we may have a frost delay.  Early tee times before 10:00 a.m. are most prone to frost delay.  I have seen frost last well past 10:00 a.m. but most cases it is gone by 10:00 a.m.  Below is a little education on Frost and how the turf is damaged.

Frost

Frost is a form of ice and can only survive at temperatures of 32 degrees Fahrenheit and below. But that doesn’t mean the measured air temperature must be 32 or below for frost to form on a surface. Green grass, for example, absorbs sunlight and heat during the day, then loses heat when the sun goes down, so the grass’s temperature may be lower than the surrounding air temperature. This temperature differential causes moisture to condense on the grass during the night. If the temperature of the grass then falls below freezing, the moisture may crystallize into frost. This can occur even when the nearby air temperature is in the upper 30s, particularly when the air is calm.

When and Where Frost Occurs

Frost may occur overnight, but it often forms at sunrise, before the temperature begins to rise. Frost formation on grass is possible in any location in which the blades’ temperature falls to 32 or below, even if temp would reach into the 70's

Damage to Grass

Frost itself doesn’t damage grass in the way that it may damage other growing things, such as citrus fruit. However, golfers walking on frosty turf may harm the grass quite badly. Because the grass on putting greens is cut so low, around 1/8 inch, it is particularly vulnerable to damage when it’s covered by frost. When a golfer walks on frost-covered grass it is more likely than normal to break and suffer ruptured cell walls.

Delayed Impact

The damage caused by walking on frost-covered grass may take two to three days to appear. By that time the damaged blades may turn purple or black, eventually fading to a very light brown. If the plant’s growing point is undamaged, however, the grass should regenerate. If the growing point is damaged, the plant may die. Additionally, weaker grass, even if it doesn’t die, may be more susceptible to disease and weed formation.