Turfgrass efficiency: the best playing conditions with the fewest inputs

I used these slides for a presentation at the Czech Greenkeepers Association conference in Lednice. I introduced the central idea of my book Short Grammar of Greenkeeping, that the idea growth rate for any site is just fast enough to recover from traffic damage, and no more. And I discussed five chapters from the book in that context.

Transcript

1. Turfgrass efficiency: the best playing conditions with the fewest inputs Micah Woods 12 December 2018 Chief Scientist Asian Turfgrass Center www.asianturfgrass.com
2. Golf Course Seminar magazine, Japan
3. “The BOOK”, photo by Jonathan Smith
5. Today’s “Table of Contents” 1. Defining turfgrass management
6. Today’s “Table of Contents” 1. Defining turfgrass management 2. Two uncontrollable factors influencing grass growth
7. Today’s “Table of Contents” 1. Defining turfgrass management 2. Two uncontrollable factors influencing grass growth 3. Managing water in the soil
8. Today’s “Table of Contents” 1. Defining turfgrass management 2. Two uncontrollable factors influencing grass growth 3. Managing water in the soil 4. Managing soil organic matter
9. Today’s “Table of Contents” 1. Defining turfgrass management 2. Two uncontrollable factors influencing grass growth 3. Managing water in the soil 4. Managing soil organic matter 5. Measuring soil water to estimate soil air
10. Defining turfgrass management
11. Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland
12. Kashima Stadium, Japan
13. Royal Bangkok Sports Club, Thailand
14. Greenkeeping is managing the growth rate of the grass to create the desired playing surface for golf.
15. creeping bentgrass, Japan
16. bermudagrass and seashore paspalum, Thailand
17. manilagrass putting green, Thailand
18. seashore paspalum and bermudagrass, Thailand
19. Penn A-1 creeping bentgrass, K deficiency
20. creeping bentgrass, PGA Catalunya
21. Two uncontrollable factors influencing grass growth
22. What affects growth? Growth is a function of photosynthetic light, plant water status, temperature, and a nutrient index.1 This can be represented as the environmental productivity index (EPI). 1Each of these factors can be represented by an index that takes a value from 0 to 1. Thus, the EPI will also have a value in the range of 0 to 1. The nutrient index is primarily a function of leaf N content.
23. What affects growth? Growth is a function of photosynthetic light, plant water status, temperature, and a nutrient index.1 This can be represented as the environmental productivity index (EPI). (light)(water)(temperature)(nutrient) = EPI 1Each of these factors can be represented by an index that takes a value from 0 to 1. Thus, the EPI will also have a value in the range of 0 to 1. The nutrient index is primarily a function of leaf N content.
24. Poa annua & kikuyugrass, Gran Canaria, November
25. storm approaching, Bangkok, September
26. creeping bentgrass 5 cm soil temperature, Japan, July
27. Festuca & Poa annua near Reykjavik, May 4
28. Simplified EPI   XXXX X (light)(water)((((((((( ( hhhhhhhhh h (temperature)(nutrient) = EPI
29. Managing water in the soil
30. 80 year old rootzone, Sydney
32. Managing soil organic matter
33. golf course construction, Thailand
34. seashore paspalum, Hong Kong
35. First, manage the grass growth to be as slow as possible.
36. Second, add sand topdressing to mix with the organic matter as it is produced by the grass.
37. Third, there is coring or scarification to physically remove organic matter from the soil.
38. Measuring soil water to estimate soil air
39. Novotek bermudagrass, Thailand
40. The best playing surface will be produced when the soil has just enough water to keep the grass from wilting, and the remaining soil volume will be filled with air.
41. creeping bentgrass, Kunming, China
42. For more, please see www.asianturfgrass.com.
43. ATC newsletter: www.subscribepage.com/atcupdate MLSN newsletter: www.subscribepage.com/mlsn