Observations

I have referred to the need for keeping the mowing height on the greens a little higher in times of stress and that particularly applies to the River greens at the moment.  The photo below is an excellent demonstration of the result of a higher height of cut, albeit quite small.  The photo is of the 12th River green and the green line that is evident is where the coring machine overlapped a little during last years renovation.  This resulted in a slight depression in the green that is not noticeable when you putt but allows the grass to have a fraction more leaf resulting in the green line.

12 River green.

And another observation this week is on14 River fairway where the trenchline that was put in for some irrigation works has shown the benefit of root pruning.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words and the result below is chalk and cheese with the turf on the left of the line not having to compete with tree roots for nutrition and water.  The root pruning machine I highlighted here a few weeks ago has all of a sudden taken a leap up the capital expenditure wish list!

14 River fairway