Dry December

On Tuesday of this week we decided to re-charge our irrigation system. Over the past couple of weeks we have been using water tanks (our sprayers) to hand water small areas of turf, but with fairways and tees now starting to dry, we were unable to keep up without the help of the irrigation system. Although it is relatively rare to have to run the system in December; the mild temperatures, extreme wind and lack of any significant precipitation over the past 45 days left us with little choice. This is especially true when you combine the fact that our Poa annua greens and Ryegrass fairways/tees are much more susceptible to desiccation then other cool season turfgrass species. At this time of the year the turf requires much less moisture to stay alive and healthy, but it is still very important for the crown of the plant to stay hydrated. So why it make look bizarre to see the sprinklers going off this late in the season, the turf will benefit greatly from the little bit we give it this week. We are planning on running another cycle or two before we are forced to blow out the system again early next week. It's safe to say that everyone on the Agronomy staff is hoping Santa brings some moisture this year!