verti cutter

We have two sets of verticutters here at Hawks Landing.  One set is dedicated to the greens, tees, and approaches and one for the fairways. Veritcutting is a process that we preform mostly in the spring and early fall.  As you can see the verticutter looks somewhat like  large groomer.  Veritcutting is a tool that I use to achieve upright growth,  helps control thatch and another benefit is that will promote more tillering of the creeping bentgrass.  The verticutter is mounted on a machine that you may typically see mowing greens on golf course that does not walk mow.  This machine enables us to preform the vertcutting process quickly.  Yet another tool that also helps removes some organic matter.  As the leaves of the plant die the dead leaves fall into the canopy.  Verticutting slices into the turf just below the crown of the plant.  The tips of the blades have carbide edges that will help bring up some of the dead and decomposing turf.  This is the reason verticutting is preformed  in the spring and fall of the growing season.   Creeping bentgrass turf is growing vigorously at this time of the year.   This is the time of the year you try to match the growth to limit the development of organic matter.  The better you can do this then you can reduce the need for removing cores from the greens.

I have a large tool box here, how I make use of it really can  impact on the quality of the turf.   You can see through this winter series that everything we use really relates to one another on some ways.  If I do not verticut and/or topdress then we need to use the aerator.  Also,  just one of the machines is not enough to provide fine turf.  Grooming and verticutting will open up the turf slightly,  allowing the sand from the topdressing to infiltrate into the canopy,  the turf will be really smooth.  Now if I did not use the vericutter  the sand would not be able to get into the turf canopy  more sand would remain on the surface. In the end maintaining the golf course is not just mowing the grass. We really have to preform so many tasks  use many different pieces of equipment to achieve the result that you want. 

This will be the last post for the winter series.  I covered most of the topics that I thought you would enjoy.  With the snow melting I am getting ready to move the operation outside. I am sure you would rather hear about the golf course then turf equipment.

As of today and what I have seen on the course things look pretty good.  The problem is that the lowest areas are still covered in upwards of 3 feet of snow.  I really want to see what these look like.  I will keep you informed.

Have a great weekend.

Neil