Browning Green

wsgc-s – posted 15 August 2006 05:19

I have a backyard green (Crenshaw Bentgrass) that is turning brown from the heat. I have been using water to keep it cool every day but we were out of water for 3 days and now portions of the green are brown. Is their any way to bring this area back?

[This message has been edited by wsgc-s (edited 16 August 2006).]

tommy – posted 17 August 2006 14:17

Bent usually doesn’t come back after being damaged like you described. Wait till the weather cools in fall, and then re-seed the dead spots. Seed early in the fall…..the nights have got to be fairly mild. (above 55 degrees).

cohiba – posted 18 August 2006 11:03

Crenshaw bent was really bred to take the heat. Where are you located?

Anyway, you should be able to aerate in a few weeks, when you get night time temps like Tommy described. In the mean time try to liquid fertilize very, very lightly. (1/8-1/4# of N will last 7-14 days.) Nothing granular!!

Stop mowing until new growth is noted. Raise the hieght of cut, but no higher than 1/4″.

Hand water dry spots so that the entire green is not overwatered.

Also…Is the water you are able to put down getting into the roots? Is spiking an option? How about wetting agents and a pitch fork???

Now comes the fun part…Are you absoluelty sure no disease is at fault?

Keep up the babying and wait for cooler temps. Aeration is long 17 days away for my greens and I already have the new tines on the aerators.

Fortuantly, bents fill in well with fertilizer, verticutting, and good growing weather.

Looking forward to Fall…………….

wsgc-s – posted 21 August 2006 12:33

I am in tennessee. the moisture is down about 12 inches, so yes the moisture is getting to the roots. I will try to aerate in a few weeks. Thanks for the help.

Turfmiester – posted 21 August 2006 17:00

When you water it, just mist it 4-5 times a day. Depending on the size, the greens on the course I work on in the Pinehurst area of Moore County, North Carolina have Pencross, and Crenshaw so we do a lot of hand watering. Our greens average 5500 sq/ftand a quick misting takes about 10-15 minutes. Just water it lightly every day and it will come back.

wsgc-s – posted 24 August 2006 08:30

Thanks Again !

SuperTurF – posted 25 August 2006 16:41

Ya, having bentgrass greens can be like baby sitting. You should try and maintain them in West Texas. Syringing throughout the day is very common during summer months down here. Watering only three days a week on Bentgrass is just unheard of. I have Maintained different cultivars, Pencross being one of those. So far the best as far as heat tolerance goes is Dominant Plus. Grand Prix isn’t all that bad either. Bentgrass greens are nice but in the position I am in down here, one day without water can be a job lost.

TexanOne – posted 26 August 2006 05:27

SuperTurf, how come ya’ll haven’t converted your greens in Odessa to a super-fine hybrid-Bermuda in this hot climate? Most of the courses in San Angelo did that years ago and have far fewer problems.

So now I know where all of our Lake Ivey water is going… 😉

SuperTurF – posted 27 August 2006 17:19

Well Texas you see, Oilfield money falls short most of the time when it comes to golf courses in this area. The greens in this area are around 15 to 20 years old and are left for us poeple to deal with it. Bent grass greens are very nice in this area if you can maintain them. As stressful as they can be poeple in this area seem to do quite well. Only real problem that comes in factor is there age and poa annua. But now with PGR’s Poa is the less of worries now really its the age factor, Compaction and high alkilane soils. Almost every Golf Course in this area waters with effluent water which can make matters worse in poorly drained soils. But all in all it just makes the job more interesting and challenging I guess.