Monday, January 17, 2011

Turf School Day Nine

Today we had a quiz in our soils class. It was very easy and was basically a review from last year. We then talked about the nutrients that are required for plant growth and their availability in the soil.
We had a new class today about putting green construction. The teacher told us there will be no tests for the class as long as we all show up. He wanted to eliminate tests so we would enjoy the class. We talked about the usga specifications for a putting green compared to the "california" style. They differ in the amount of organic matter in the root zone and the presence of gravel beneath the sand. The usga has organic matter in the sand mix and it is spread over gravel. The California style has no organic matter in the mix to allow for the flushing of the greens. Greens are flushed periodically to remove unwanted chemicals and minerals from the green.
We finished the day discussing stress physiology. Our lecture was on winter damage. we talked about what can be done to prevent winter damage: topdress the greens with sand, cover the greens with tarps, remove snow. It should have been interesting material since it is applicable to our region of the country, but it was very boring. I think it is not interesting, because the teacher is very hard to understand.

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