The hot summer of 2010 was definitely a time for plant selection. There are many different biotypes of Poa annua that exhibit different attributes. Some of the Poa annua plants on the courts were tolerant of drought conditions, some were disease resistant and some could tolerate the heat. In general terms, grass courts 4, 5, 8, and 9 were not very drought tolerant and began to wilt on the hot days early in the day. On these courts the balance between water and firmness of the courts was especially important.
During the National Father/Daughter it was hot, dry and the courts were playing well. At that time of year (early/mid August) the grass was even more susceptible to wilt due to weeks of hot weather that had decimated the plant root systems.
Court 5 got the worst of it, as the biotype on this court could not withstand the inhospitable conditions and we lost some grass.
The fall renovations are intended to have many positive results, one of which is promoting germination of seed from the Poa annua seed bank. In the picture below you can see new seedlings growing in the aeration holes and verticut slices.
The verticutting does not affect playability too much, but aerating certainly does. This year we used smaller tines in order to not affect playability as much as we would with bigger tines. We will come back and aerate these same courts with bigger tines later in the season when demand for courts is much less.
3 comments:
Thanks for the explanation Mike - I told one of the members that I thought you used smaller tines than usual for this aeration - making the courts playable faster.
I saw you surveying your kingdom around lunchtime today - others may have thought that you were merely wandering,but to me you looked a bit like General Patton surveying a promising battlefield. Or, as the colonel almost said in Apocalypse Now - "I love the smell of fertilizer in the morning".
As I remember, there was a match on court 5 that continued through lunch and court 5 was on of the only courts that didn't get syringed that day. I think we could have saved some of the grass if we had been able to syringe it.
Ah, but for the bite of a syringe. Many a bard would have lived if not for their predilection towards the demon substances.
Were that we could still enjoy a Belushi, Bruce or Prinze if they had been able to stay away from their temptations.
Requiescat in pace - funny guys (don't know how to say that in Latin).
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