Thriving Turf in the Heat of Summer

Maintaining golf courses, particularly fairways and greens, presents a unique challenge during the scorching summer months - and you’re likely no stranger to the stress that heat and drought can impose on turf.

During the summer months, everything from the lack of moisture to debris saturation can lead to browning, thinning, and overall diminished playability on your course. With the right solutions for dry turf in place, you can ensure that your greens not only survive but thrive under the summer sun. In this guide, we’ll share our tried and tested summer turf care strategies to maintain healthy turf on golf courses — even during the most scorching months of the year.

Tip #1: Irrigation Management

When we talk about keeping your turf lush and healthy, we need to bring irrigation into the picture. Irrigation gives your fairways and greens much-needed moisture for optimum soil and turf health.

When irrigating, you need to optimize your water delivery to avoid waste. You should also ensure uniform coverage across the course and adjust watering schedules to account for evaporation rates and soil moisture levels.

Whenever possible, you should also irrigate during the early morning or late evening to reduce water loss through evaporation and promote deeper root growth.

Tip #2: Strategic Aeration

Aeration is essential for promoting healthy root growth and improving soil structure, especially during the summer months. For the best results, you must schedule aeration treatments strategically to coincide with periods of active turf growth and optimal soil moisture levels.

Core aeration helps alleviate compaction and allows water, air, and nutrients to penetrate the soil more effectively.

Aeration is one of the most time-consuming tasks of summer turf care. Fortunately, you can slash your aeration times significantly and revitalize your turf with our expertly designed aerators.

Tip #3: Heat Stress Management

The heat can do a number on your turf’s health, making your greens and fairways more susceptible to patchy growths and pests.

To avoid all this from happening, you must implement measures to mitigate heat stress, such as providing adequate shade where possible, especially around sensitive areas like putting greens. Also, proper aeration and soil management play a crucial role in reducing heat stress by improving water and air circulation within the soil profile.

Tip #4: Choosing Heat-Tolerant Turfgrass Varieties

There are varieties of turfgrass like Bermuda, Fescue, and Zoysia. These varieties are famous for their ability to tolerate high temperatures and retain moisture despite the summer heat.

By overseeding with these varieties, you’ll be making life easier for yourself as summer turfgrass varieties are low-maintenance. Most importantly, your course will offer golfers the best playing experience year-round.

Tip #5: Changing Up Your Mowing

To minimize summer heat stress on your turfgrass, you should adjust your mowing practices from time to time. A good place to start would be to raise mower heights slightly for added shade and insulation. Doing this not only prevents stress but also scalping.

Your mowing lengths should also change from what they were in the cooler months. During the summer, avoid cutting more than one-third of the grass blade. Doing this minimizes the chances of your grass wilting and turning brown.

[And no, we’re not planning on adding a mower to the Smithco lineup anytime soon.]

Tip #6: Dial in Your Fertilization Game

Lastly, don’t neglect your course’s fertilization.

Fertilization plays a crucial role in providing turfgrass with the nutrients it needs to thrive during the summer months. When choosing fertilizers, go for brands with balanced nutrient formulations tailored to your turfgrass species and soil conditions.

While the big buzzword for fertilizers these days is “nitrogen,” you’d be better off not jumping on the nitro bandwagon. Excessive nitrogen in your fertilizer can increase water demand and stress your turf over the long run.

Instead, consider slow-release fertilizers to provide sustained nutrition and minimize the risk of leaching during heavy rainfall or irrigation. Once you’re done fertilizing, consolidate them on your fairways and greens with our fairway rollers and greensrollers.

Summer Turf Care Solutions Made Superior With Smithco

Maintaining healthy turf on golf courses during the summer requires careful planning and execution of proven strategies.

By optimizing irrigation management, managing heat stress, selecting heat-tolerant turfgrass varieties, adjusting mowing practices, implementing strategic aeration, and optimizing fertilization, you can ensure that your greens remain vibrant and resilient even in the hottest weather.

At Smithco, we understand the importance of reliable turf care equipment in maintaining healthy greens year-round. Our lineup of aerators, turf sweepers, infield groomers, greens rollers, and sprayers is designed to help you achieve optimal turf conditions with ease and efficiency.

Explore our line of products today and elevate your summer turf care game!

Sources: 

https://www.smithco.com/products/fairway-rollers

https://www.smithco.com/products/greensrollers

https://golf.com/lifestyle/grass-types-every-golfer-should-know/

https://www.smithco.com/products/aerators

https://www.smithco.com/product/spray-star-1200

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