Bunker edges, fairways and bluegrass weevils.

This week we started doing a few things with an eye on next year. One thing we started working on is getting a good edge on all the bunkers before winter sets in. As the weather cools and the days get shorter, grass isn't growing as aggressively so by edging bunkers now there will be minimal growth before the grass goes dormant. Next spring when the grass starts growing again we'll be in great shape to just go out and do maintenance edging instead of this more aggressive edging that takes a lot of time and people, both of which are usually in short supply early in the year.

Fresh edge.

Another thing we are trying out is a different growth regulator (paclobutrazol) on fairways that has a greater effect on annual bluegrass than bentgrass. This is a great product for controlling annual bluegrass, however the problem is when you first apply there is pretty obvious damage to the annual bluegrass. It doesn't kill it, but it makes it look like it would rather be dead. We actually sprayed it in June a few years ago and the fairways looked terrible for a few weeks and we went back to our normal program. However, the annual bluegrass does eventually develop a tolerance and after a few applications doesn't go off color anymore. With that in mind we decided that if we applied it now we could get the plant to start developing a tolerance this fall while the weather is cool and the stakes are low. Hopefully next year when we continue the program, the effects aren't as drastic and we can start reducing the amount of annual bluegrass in the fairways. To be clear, this doesn't eliminate the bluegrass, it simply gives the bentgrass an advantage which results in greater populations of bentgrass.

Slight yellowing of the annual bluegrass in fairways. It is much more drastic when sprayed in the summer.

Finally, the other day when cutting cups on the practice green I just happened to see an annual bluegrass weevil by my foot. I started looking around and in about a 10 square foot area I found about two dozen adults just hanging out on the green. When I showed this to Mark he decided that we should get out and spray them while they are still actively feeding and before they go to their overwintering spots. (They overwinter in leaf liter in the woods, so once they get there they are safe.) By reducing the population before winter we will be cutting into the first generation of weevils next spring because, one of the first things the adults who overwintered do in the spring is lay eggs. This will help us out all summer long too because they are multi-generational insects, so the lower their starting population, the lower their potential maximum population can be.

Weevil party crashing.

Ian