Wednesday, November 15, 2006
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Different topdressing practices to manage “Mini-Verde” bermudagrass putting greens.
Haibo Liu, Lambert McCarty, William Sarvis, and Christian Baldwin. Clemson University, 50 New Cherry Rd., E-143 Poole Ag. Center, Clemson, SC 29678-0319
Thatch control is still one of the main challenges to maintain ultra-dwarf bermudagrass putting greens. Very limited research documentation on ‘Mini-Verde’ management as a putting green turfgrass. This study was designed to evaluate ‘Mini-Verde’ performance with three topdressing treatments plus PGR treatments. The thatch, clipping yield, root mass, and turf quality were collected for two years to evaluate the turf performance. We found that trinexapac-ethyl treatment at two week intervals during the growing season enhanced turf quality with improved root mass. An annual topdressing of 30 cubic feet sand and peat moss (a mixture of 85:15) per thousand square feet at 15 weekly applications provided the best turf quality and playbility.