Page 11 - Gallery September Newsletter 2021_Neat

C O U R S E U P D A T E

F R O M

N O A H G E S S L E R

Summer Bentgrass Care in the Desert

The creeping bentgrass on the Gallery greens provides a great putting surface most of the year, but undergoes
noticeable changes during the summer months. Greens are softer, slower and the turf is longer. Here is a look
into care of bentgrass in the desert environment.

There are two general classifications of turfgrass:warm season and cool season.Bentgrass is a cool season
grass that is happiest when daytime temperatures are in the mid 60’s to mid 70’s and soil temperatures are in
the mid 50’s to mid 60’s. When summer temperatures increase the bentgrass is working hard to handle the
situation.
A plant uses the vast majority of the water taken in from the soil for the purpose of cooling itself through a
process known as transpiration. This is the way a plant “breathes” as water moves along a gradient of high to
low humidity from the soil, into the roots, through the stems and shoots and out to the atmosphere through
its leaves. This rate is controlled by the type of plant as well as environmental factors such as temperature,
relative humidity, wind and soil moisture. In the desert when the temperatures are high and the humidity is
low, the plant is able to cool itself as long as we are able to provide adequate moisture to the soil. The majority
of this is done with hand watering with the aid of soil moisture meters to measure the moisture in the soil.

As the humidity increases with our monsoon season, which has been an exceptionally wet one this year, the
plant loses some of its ability to cool itself. Soil temperatures this summer peaked as high as 90 degrees during
June’s heat wave, and have stayed in the mid 80’s for the most of the summer, adding to the stress on the
plant. High soil temperatures also continue to release any nitrogen present in the soil, which is the main
nutrient responsible for plant growth.

These factors can cause the bentgrass to get heat stress, and grow very rapidly. Two main defenses for soft,
puffy greens in the summer are regular application of growth regulators and adjustments to mowing heights
and mower components. We apply two different growth regulators every two weeks to the greens. As the
greens start to get soft they are very prone to mower damage or “scalping”, so the mowers must be adjusted
to a higher height of cut, and the front rollers on the cutting units are changed to a less aggressive smooth
roller.
As air and soil temperatures begin to drop in mid September, it coincides with our fall aerification, aggressive
verticutting and topdressing. From there we are also able to be more aggressive with mowing heights and
cultural practices.

This year we have received ten and a half inches of rain. There is no doubt that this abundance of natural,
clean water has done a lot for the bermudagrass, a warm season turfgrass. It has though, made it challenging
for the bentgrass.Adjustments will continue to be made to return the putting surfaces to a much more
enjoyable condition as the weather changes.