The countdown to the start of the conversion of the front 9 West greens to TifEagle is gaining momentum and most of the goods required have now been ordered.  The temporary greens are progressing well and are now in the process of having their mowing height lowered as can be seen in the photo below.  Hopefully the weather will once again behave this year and give us the perfect conditions we experienced last year which allowed us to proceed almost unhindered.

9W temporary striping up

As mentioned in the last post weed control has commenced following the flush of growth caused by the fertiliser application which had a great result.  Unfortunately the wrong plants seemed to benefit the most from the fertiliser with the Kikuyu and Blue couch greening right up but this will help them better take in the products that are used to control them.  The results of the first application are clearly visible and it is hoped for a smooth transition as the less desirable grasses die off and the "green couches" take over.

 

Qld Blue couch dying off

The Queensland Blue Couch as it is known is neither from Queensland nor is it a Couch.  It actually comes from the genus Digitaria which includes several weeds such as Summergrass which is often mistaken for Crowsfoot.  Qld Blue does make for a nice surface but is very prone to disease attack and is very difficult to control weeds in due to its sensitivity to some herbicides.

Kikuyu dying off

I traveled to New Zealand last week and attended the Fine Turf Seminar which was held in Dunedin.  The temperature rarely got above 10 degrees so there was not a lot of Couchgrass talk but many good presentations on surface presentation, preparation and pest control.  The Seminar was held at the Forsyth Barr Stadium where the Wallabies take on the All Blacks tomorrow in the Bledisoe Cup.  The ground was being mown by hand (yes with walk behind mowers) and the All Blacks conducted a training session one afternoon.  We were in an area  (inside and heated thankfully) that overlooked the ground and were told to move back from the windows and not watch them train!!  Lucky they didn't know there were a few Australians in the audience to potentially pass on their secrets!!!

2 groundsmen walk mowing the field!!!