Snow Removal From Greens

As you are driving through the village you pass by a couple of greens that have snow routinely removed from them. Have you ever wondered why? On our more shaded greens such as #4, #5 and #10 we remove snow after nearly every snowfall to prevent excessive snow and ice build up on the greens surface. Extended periods of ice cover will eventually suffocate and kill the grass that lies underneath. It is for that reason that we remove the snow from these greens to prevent problems from occurring. It becomes a balancing act when to remove the snow, because we still need the moisture to keep the plant alive but not so much that ice forms. There are many times that we have to go out and water some of these greens even though the entire area around the green is covered with snow. Other times we leave snow on the greens to act as an insulating blanket when extremely cold temperatures are predicted. Once the temperatures rise again we then remove the snow and expose the greens.