Green Surround Over-seeding

One of our most recent projects has been to focus on some of our more problematic green surrounds. There are a few surrounds that we have had issues with some thinning of turf, which is becoming an issue with playability around the greens. Healthy thick grass is what we strive for around the greens, which is optimum for playability. Our strategy to solve this problem is to over-seed the surrounds that have a lot of thinning turf, which is a result of a number of factors. Most of the thinning is a result of animal damage, high traffic, irrigation inefficiencies, and environmental factors such as shade, and lack of air circulation. Along with over-seeding these area's, we are also implementing several irrigation changes along with some pruning over the next couple weeks.  

Now the over-seeding process itself includes several agronomic practices which help establish the seed, and give it the best possibly growing conditions. Below is a series of photos that cover all the practices involved along with an explanation of there importance.  

This photo was taken on the right side of #4 green. This is by far one of the worst surrounds and is a good example of why we are over-seeding.  There is a big oak tree that is the cause for some of this thinning, but it has also been heavily damaged by gopher activity. In this photo you can see several flags, these are to mark the sprinkler heads and irrigation boxes. This is the first step of the over-seeding process as they ensure easy visibility for operators. 

This photo is just another example of the thinning behind 4 green. 

The second step of the over-seeding process is to mow the surround to a height of 1 inch, this is done for a couple of reasons. First it makes it easier for the seed to make its way to the soil, to help the efficiency of the germination process.  Secondly the mowing of the existing grass stimulates tillering( lateral growth)  of the grass plant, which is results in a much denser stand of turf. 

This photo shows how much debris are left after mowing the surround to inch. 

An up close photo of the difference in height of cut, you can see how there is more surface area for the seed after mowing. 

After the surround has been mowed down to 1 inch, it is then aerified using solid tones with close spacing. This helps to relieve soil compaction and increase air flow within the root zone. Ultimately this results in a healthy grass plant. 

After its aerified we then go over the surround with a verticutting unit which is attached to a John Deere tractor. This helps to remove any dead/built up material from the soil profile, as well as creating grooves to help the seed contact the soil. Which will help with germination and keeping the seed wet until germination. 

Now it time to clean up the mess we just made. This is done with a combination of leaf rakes, back pack blower, and a buffalo blower. Most of the debris are placed in to piles which are then loaded into a pro-gator, anything left over is cleaned up with the buffalo blower.  

All the material closer to the green are pushed out about 6 feet from the green,  which gives the buffalo blower room to operate. It also reduces traffic close to the green complex. 

This is a close up to show an area after it has been aerified and verticut. 

This is what it looks like after it has been seeded, which is then followed by a starter fertilizer and watered in.  The final process is top-dress the surround which helps with water retention, a key component for germination.