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REASONS FOR
OVERSEEDING WARM SEASON COURSES
Such as Bermuda Grass in the South
If you have a warm season grass such as
Bermuda on your course as the primary grass... it will go
off color, if not totally brown in dormancy as cooler
temperatures approach. You could play in this surface but
excessive traffic will wear the crowns down and you will have
bare soil areas in the spring. This is not a recommended
practice for a playable golf course.
What happens is dormancy occurs as temperatures drop
below 60-70 degrees...This cause the grass to slow down (get
sleepy and rest/sleep) and basically it stops growing.
Thus damaged grass leaves that normally would grow back, do not
get replaced. Damage to grass is an ongoing activity from
walking, driving and playing on grasses. You will certainly
need to overseed greens and tees... you might can avoid some
overseeding on fairways if cost is the issue, though there is
risk to this policy also. You should limit golf cart activity
on any course should you decide to not overseed - or restrict
them to non-grass / paved trails.
There is NO simple solution or miracle grass. Moving to a
grass that will stay green in the winter (in Southern location),
creates a problem when temperatures are high and summer droughts
are present. Thus Bermuda is chosen both for its low mowing
adaptation and its ability to survive in hot weather first and
foremost. -- Fertilization has little to do with dormancy...
That is simply a factor of the species and the temperatures.
All the fertilizer in the world will not stop dormancy, perhaps
change the reaction speed to it, but not stop it. A few
varieties within a species will often green up faster or stay
green and growing at a little lower temperatures... but they
still go dormant and most become brown.
Keep in mind that part of the reason
people like to play golf is the beauty of the course. They like
the fact that the course and grass is much prettier (and
greener) than what they may have at their home. If you start
neglecting your course you are going to have customers who's
experience for the day was not satisfactory. While brown color
can be contrasted with a green color and look appealing, most
golfers expect the fairway and certainly the greens to be
green.
Ryegrasses:
www.ryegrasses.com
You may could limit
the use of ryegrass on fairways by landscaping some design
pattern in which the fairway may narrow or follow curves that
reduces the width... or perhaps creates an island of green such as
a "green". But I don't think you could totally
eliminate green areas from overseeding and still have happy
golfers. Golfing is NOT just a playing experience (except for the
few serious ones)... it is also the experience of being outdoors
and enjoying nature for many. Golfers started out playing on
pastures... how many do you think would still choose to return to
that as long as there is another choice? Only the ones who
are into the "natural" course of playing.
And that is basically what
many mistakenly suggest.. lets make the course a common pasture,
not a special place to go to and escape for a few hours, excape
from all the crap in the high pressure, real world. So you see
your users probably expect a level of perfection... a sort of
"Alice in Wonderland" place... thus this is one of the primary
reasons for Bermuda overseeding that is not always obvious.
Also NOT overseeding a
fairway.. still leaves the problem of traffic over the fairway is
as a concern. With the same issues of wear fournd on greens,
if not overseeded. Its one thing to tell your users to stay on a
particular path to avoid excess damage to dormant grass, and
another for them to actually do it.Lawns: Choices | States
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