Thursday, April 16, 2015

Thursday

 
This spring (specifically the last week) we've received a tremendous amount of rain in addition to much cooler temperatures.  This caused a fairly large outbreak of brown patch and pink patch in our roughs.  I pulled the trigger this morning on spraying a fungicide. Healing will only take a few days.  These are 2 diseases that would most likely go away on their own, once active growth resumes. This is a tough time of year with regards to the rough.  We try hard to keep the Kentucky bluegrass pure and uniform.  However, warm temperatures are required to get this grass actively growing (75* or higher).  The bentgrass, Poa and other undesirable grasses in the roughs are growing sooner at much cooler temps.  This means the Kentucky Bluegrass simply can't compete and we loose a lot of ground.  In addition to that, the 100" of rain per year is better suited to the bent and Poa annua.  Bluegrass is better acclimated to drought like conditions.