Page 12 - GM spring 2024

The way a contour roller mower should be designed
HEIGHER HEIGHTS = IMPROVED WATER EFFICIENCY
Higher surrounds height of cut (we increased ours from 1.25” to 1.5”), early and heavy fertilization of wear areas and use of wetting agents have helped us maximize our water efficiency. I recommend that you play around with these factors at your course to find what works best for your course and climate. Also, nothing improves water conservation more than keeping a repaired and properly working irrigation system: sprinkler heads to irrigation towers.
KEEP YOUR SOILS LEAN
I am an advocate of foliar fertilization and keeping the grass lean. You are the professional that can ride the fine line between not enough food to recover from wear and wasting fertilizer. I use base materials (urea, FeSO4, Mag and Mn sulphate, etc.) and keep our soils extremely lean and this lets me keep the course fed with little expense. As well as saving on fertilizer costs and the obvious environmental benefits of using less fertilizer, there are other benefits to foliarly keeping the inputs lean.
In the last 10 years, through foliar fertilization management, we have decreased the amount of poa on our greens from as high as 60% down to 2-5%. We do not just foliar feed the greens but also foliar feed wall to wall. This decreases our fertilizer budget immensely as well as lets me control growth rates and thus clipping rates. No more dragging chain link fence behind our fairway mowers. In addition, there is comfort knowing that extra fertilizer is not entering the surrounding areas’ ecosystem. We have a salamander- breeding habitat bordering our golf course and a large, annual toad hatch that inspires me to be as environmentally friendly as possible.
HUMIC ACIDS INCREASES FERTILIZER UPTAKE
One other thing I discovered many years ago is that a small amount of humic acid added to your base fertilizer sprayed foliarly will help increase fertilizer uptake and response. I originally noticed applying humic acid at 0.5oz/1000 foliarly with micros in the fall would give me a great three-week response without
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