Storm

Not too much damage at LCC from hurricane Sandy.  Posts on the Route 9/ Hammond St fence snapped and are being repaired.

Windscreens

Windscreens taken down on clay courts - high winds predicted for Monday. 

10/24-10/25, 2012

The grass courts were aerated again, but this time with longer tines on the Vertidrain.  Over the years we have been pulling cores out to a depth of 3 1/2 inches. Just below this depth a compacted layer can form.  Jeff is using coring tines that are set to a 5 inch depth to break up this layer.  The bottom picture shows the courts topdressed after the cores were picked up - with the topdressing filling the holes and covering the bottom of all the grass plants.  We have one aeration left for this season - large solid tines on the Vertidrain that will go down to 10 inches and crack the soil.  All of this is aimed at producing a deeper root system that will improve both plant performance next season.

Friday night's thunder storms dropped over two inches of water onto the courts in a short time. The result was a lot of erosion and a layer of silt on all of the clay courts.

LCC Trees, 10/18/2012



Dawn Redwood



Light green tree in foreground - Sophora

Linden

Today's Pics



Middlesex Road oak tree




Cores ready to be picked up after rain



Japanese Maple



Mandevilla made it through the weekend freeze



New lawn growing in well





Nate getting ready to sharpen his Halloween cleaver



Grass Tennis Research

Dr Scott Ebdon, turf management professor at the University of Massachusetts has begun a research project on grass tennis courts.  I will be supplying frequent updates with details on this multi year project.  The Longwood grounds team will be helping out where we can and last Friday's assistance can be seen below.  

Four singles courts are being seeded with different grass species, blends and cultivars.  They will be maintained just like LCC's courts - mowed the same, same fertility and pest protection, with real and simulated play.  Which ones will wear best?  Dr Ebdon will find out.  

The four courts were carefully seeded in 32 randomized sections (the cage keeps the seed in each section) with four sections of Longwood Poa annua for comparison.  We brought out 20 trash barrels of aeration plugs and soil from our courts - you can see the LCC crew spreading them in the grids. 

This is a very exciting project for turf and grass court managers!  Lots of valuable information should come out of this - the first ever grass tennis research in the US.