Winter Damage and Recovery
Hope for the best, but plan for the worst
By Scottie Hines, CGCS
The ice has been prevalent now for 6-8 weeks. If you have a predominance of Poa annua, you might be thinking the worst by now. Time to pull some plug samples and bring them inside to a sunny, warm window sill to see what if anything, recovers. After a few days, you are seeing little to no recovery or green-up in the samples you pulled. What now?
Job number one is to communicate clearly to your direct supervisor the findings you are seeing. Prepare everyone for the worst-case scenario and have a recovery plan prepared. A good plan will outline the steps in the program, a budget, albeit a rough budget until the full extent of the damaged is realized, and a timeline for the recovery process.
If Poa annua greens, tees or fairways are damaged, this might be the perfect opportunity to interseed a newer variety of bentgrass like Jacklin Seed’s T-1 from Simplot.
T-1 offers the following benefits:
- Aggressive against Poa annua intrusion. Makes visible gains on Poa annua annually
- #1 ranked in NTEP color evaluations
- Quicker healing of ball marks and divots
- Tenacious ground cover
- Excellent selection for greens, tees and fairway areas
- Sets a new standard in bentgrass tiller density
New seeding rate: 1-2 pounds per 1000 sq. ft.
Interseeding rate: 2-4 pounds per 1000 sq. ft.
If, by chance, you are seeing ice damage on your Lawns, golf course roughs, athletic or sports fields Jacklin also has two extremely good options for you: Heisman and Overseeder II.
Heisman is a mix of 85% Kentucky Bluegrass (Award, Liberator, NuGlade, Tsunami) and 15% Perennial Ryegrass (Top Gun II). Over seeding rate is 75-100 lbs. per acre or 1.7 – 2.2 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft.
Overseeder II is a mix of 70% Kentucky Bluegrass (Award, Everest, Everglade, Liberator, NuGlade) and 30% Perennial Ryegrass (Accent, Caddyshack II, Top Gun II). Overseeding rate is 75 – 125 lbs. per acre or 1.7 – 2.8 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft.
Both offer the quick recovery of perennial ryegrass coupled with the durability and playability of Kentucky bluegrass.
A 1993 graduate of Penn State University with a B.S. in Agronomy (Turfgrass) Scottie Hines has been working in the golf world in some manner for over 35 years. Having been at several top private golf clubs including Laurel Valley Golf Club, Oakmont Country Club, Baltusrol Golf Club and, most recently, Windsong Farm Golf Club.
He was an assistant golf course superintendent for three U.S. Opens (’89 Senior, ’92 women’s and ’94 Open) and a superintendent for the 2000 U.S. Amateur.
When not on the greens, you can find him at the local curling club, cheering his children on to victories while wearing his kilt.
Scottie joined Tessman Company as an inside sales person in 2018.