First Cut

It has been two and a half weeks since germination occurred on our fairway nursery and it is now being regularly mowed. The first mowing occurred only 14 days after germination and is now being mowed three days a week at this point.

As a part of the grow in process the new seedlings are being fertilized every 7 days to encourage growth and tillering, that will help the new stand fill in laterally. We are currently mowing the nursery at .500” which is .100” higher than our normal fairway height of cut. The height will dropped down to regular fairway height over the next several weeks as the nursery matures.

Nursery Construction

You can see it in the distance while hitting balls from the driving range tees, but probably don’t know what it is. We are in the process of expanding our turf nursery that supplies grass for the different areas on the course. Each area has specific requirements for things such as grass type, height of cut and soil medium it is grown on.

Greens and tees require a sod that is grown on a sand / peat growing medium that is the same in particle size as the rootzone used for original construction of the golf course. If the sand that the new sod is grown is not compatible with the existing rootzone mix, an interface issue will occur therefore not allowing the new sod to ever become fully rooted. This interface issue also occurs with sod that is used on the fairway and rough areas that is also not grown on a similar soil.

Over the years that I have brought in sod from an outside grower it never matches up or reacts the same as something that is grown and established onsite. It is for this reason that I prefer to use sod, which I have grown whenever possible.