Manakin aeration complete, among other things
The fall temperatures are here, just in time for Manakin green aeration. The cooler afternoons afforded us the opportunity to notch these holes a little tighter, going for 1.5" spacing instead of the normal 2". About two inch deep cores were pulled out of the organic layer and then blown off and cleaned up.
Grant has the fan removal process down to a science now and made all the fans on Manakin disappear by lunch on Monday.
About 25 tons of kiln dried sand along with some calcium and potassium were spread and brushed in to the holes. These columns of sand provide air and water movement that is critical for bentgrass health.
Check out these beautiful white roots shooting down through the aeration holes on the Sabot greens. A strong root system leads to a firmer green, one that recover faster from golfer wear and ballmarks.
The greens were rolled smooth and we are working to blow off any excess sand. We'll make a first mowing on Friday and then let the tropical storm wash everything else in and get the bentgrass growing again.
The 70 degree soil temp threshold has been crossed so we also completed our first spring dead spot applications as well as our winter pre-emerge application for Poa annua on all the short grass this week.
Spring dead spot is a soil borne fungus that infects bermudagrass when soil temps drop below 70. The diseases weakens the plant as it enters dormancy which limits its ability to deal with the cold weather. The fungicide has to be watered down past the thatch to be effective. We will apply another application of fungicides in a month to finish off the preventative applications. Pre-emerge herbicide was also applied at the same time in order to give us about 4 months of coverage as Poa annua comes back into the picture. We will make another application for Poa in January. Bermuda may be cheap to maintain in the summer but these applications add up in order to get it through 6 months of dormancy!
Efrain and Jose V took advantage of the lighter play on the Manakin to dial in a few fairway drain basin tie ins. Look for some more larger drainage projects to happen in the coming weeks.
Over on the Sabot, Ben got the mini excavator out to 16 and cleaned out the bottom of the stream. We probably found one ball for every member so our bags are stocked for the next few years.
