Viridescent - the Asian Turfgrass Center blog

Sunshine, Zoysia, and Grass Performance in Asia

There are four grasses in the image above (click on it to get a larger view). We are looking at Tifeagle and Novotek (both are Cynodon hybrids), Sea Isle Supreme (Paspalum vaginatum), and a fine-bladed zoysia, probably Zoysia pacifica. This is a test on a shaded green in Manila. The green is maintained for seashore paspalum. The seashore paspalum can handle this shade, although it has a relatively coarse leaf blade compared to the zoysia. Both types of Cynodon fail to produce an acceptable putting surface in this type of shaded condition under which both seashore paspalum and zoysia can produce a good stand of turf.

In fact, this zoysia produces a really superb putting surface, as seen at right, a photo I took on the 18^th green at Wack Wack Golf and Country Club during last week's Philippine Open. It requires very little in the way of fertilizer, few pesticides, and is able to tolerate the low sunshine levels and tree or building shade that can cause Cynodon, with its higher light requirement, to fail. Wack Wack recently underwent a renovation and the Club made a wise choice to keep the native zoysia on greens and the native carpetgrass everywhere else. There are beautiful mature trees across the property, and other grasses would not produce such fine surfaces in these low light conditions, but the zoysia and Axonopus thrive.

Many people ask me "what type of zoysia is that?" My best answer is that it is probably a type of Zoysia pacifica (previously called Zoysia tenuifolia), and I base that on a paper published in 2005 by Akamine et al. in volume 33 of the Journal of the Japanese Society of Turfgrass Science entitled "Morphological Characteristics of Zoysia tenuifolia Willd." In the research project reported in that paper, Akamine et al. found that Z. pacifica leaves are folded in the sheath, as compared to Z. matrella leaves which are rolled in the sheath. Upon close inspection, I found that the fine-bladed zoysia from the greens at Wack Wack has folded leaves, while the leaves of a typical Zoysia matrella from Japan were rolled.

For more information about sunshine, shade, turfgrass performance in Asia, and links to a lot more information about assessing the sunshine hours close to your location, here is a video I've recorded with Dr. Larry Stowell from PACE Turf about light.

Potassium for Turfgrass: interview with Dr. Larry Stowell of PACE Turf

Dr. Larry Stowell and I recorded this video interview about potassium fertilizer for turfgrass. How much potassium is enough? How should you decide how much potassium to apply to meet the plant requirements, without wasting money by applying too much? Is potassium fertilizer necessary at all? Watch this video to find out, and check out PACE Turf for a wealth of valuable turfgrass information.

Teaching Turfgrass at University of Tennessee

I'm at the University of Tennessee this week, where I am an adjunct faculty member of the Department of Plant Sciences, for meetings and teaching. Yesterday I was a guest in Dr. Brandon Horvath's inimitable PLSC 462 class, Professional Development in the Turfgrass Industry. This class is modeled on the television show Inside the Actor's Studio and has an interview format. 

The class was very interesting, not only in this unique format of drawing out stories about professional development in the industry, but also with the studio lighting and three television cameras recording the class. This will be posted, I have been told, on iTunes U, so you will be able to see this innovative class format and, perhaps, if I can tie a bow tie without the assistance of a mirror. 

Immediately after my guest appearance in this class, I gave a seminar for the Department of Plant Sciences about the teaching work I do in Asia. Much of East Asia, and many of the population centers along the Pacific Coast of Asia fall into what we call the transition zone, meaning either C₃ (cool-season) or C₄ (warm-season) grasses can grow. Walking around the campus yesterday I saw tall fescue and bermudagrass, zoysiagrass and bentgrass, Poa trivialis and Poa annua — in short, just about every type of grass can grow in Tennessee. In the seminar, I spoke about the various education programs that ATC provides in Asia, where these programs are offered, and how I take a mechanistic approach to teaching turfgrass that focuses on modifying the growing environment to create the desired conditions for the grass to grow.

Today I'll be looking at turfgrass research plots and learning more about the research currently underway in the turfgrass program here at the University of Tennessee.  We are also discussing our continuing collaborative work, research projects that we may do in Asia and at Tennessee, and how we can work together to develop more (and better) turfgrass information and educational programs.

Report and Video on New Warm Season Greens Grasses

If you attended the Sustainable Turfgrass Management in Asia 2010 conference, you met Matt Roche and saw his presentations about the trials being conducted at Australia to evaluate new warm-season grasses (bermudagrass and seashore paspalum varieties) and to determine the best management guidelines for these grasses. The final report on this project is now available for download from AGCSA Tech:

Management Guidelines for New Warm-Season Grasses in Australia, Matt Roche et al., 167 pages, 4.6MB

In addition to the full report, which includes information about many grasses used in Asia such as TifDwarf, MiniVerde, TifEagle, Novotek, Sea Isle 2000, Sea Isle Supreme, and SeaDwarf, a video presentation with a summary of the project and key results is also available for viewing:

Video Webcast of Matt Roche on Final Results of Australian Warm Season Grass Trials

Zoysia Sod 45 Days After Planting?!!!

Zoysiagrass is especially well-adapted to East and Southeast Asia. At Thailand, the local variety of zoysia grows so well that the time from planting to harvest is only 45 days. I wrote an article describing the process of zoysia production near Bangkok and this article has been published in the summer 2010 issue of the Hawaii Golf Course Superintendents Association newsletter. Download the article here, or watch the video below from YouTube.

Turfgrass Performance Data at the Open Championship

The machine I'm operating in the photo above, on the 1^st green of the Old Course, is the STRI Trueness Meter. This measuring device, which I mentioned in a previous post, is designed to measure the amount of vertical and horizontal deviation a ball will experience as it rolls across a putting green. In essence, this device measures how smooth the greens are, whereas the stimpmeter measures how fast greens are. Are green speed and surface smoothness positively correlated? Our measurements this week have shown that factors other than smoothness have an effect on speed, at times, so in some cases the smoothness readings are better when the stimpmeter readings have been lower. I discussed the relationship between surface trueness, or smoothness, and the green speed with Dr. Christian Spring of STRI. He says that there is a positive relationship between the two, but that it is not necessarily a causal relationship.

One maintenance technique that improves the smoothness of greens and improves the consistency of smoothness between greens is lightweight rolling. If you haven't been to St. Andrews and the Old Course, you will enjoy the video of the 13th green being rolled this week as the STRI tournament agronomy team approaches to begin collecting performance data on the green. Seeing the roller go across the green gives some indication of the vast size of this putting surface (over 3500 m²).

Richard Windows from STRI and championship agronomist for this Open Championship uses a stimpmeter to measure the green speed of the practice green near the 1^st tee (see below). We measure the soil moisture, the green speed, the trueness, and the firmness of the greens, and it is quite useful to have these data. I think, and I will write more about this when I have time, that we should be less concerned about what color the grass is, and should simply focus on the playability/performance data. I often hear phrases about golf course maintenance such as "brown is the new green" or "green is soft" or "lean and mean" or "firm and fast" etc.. But that is irrelevant and is mostly visually descriptive. By some simple collection of data about the playability of the course, it is possible to better describe the playing conditions of the course, and that is more relevant to the game of golf.

Golf Digest Singapore Interview About Grass

I was interviewed by Golf Digest Singapore when I was there earlier this year to speak at the 2^nd IGOLF Singapore Golf & Environment Forum at the Keppel Club. That interview, where I speak about the Asian Turfgrass Center and the challenges of managing turfgrass in Southeast Asia, can be seen on the video page of the Golf Digest Singapore website or you can view the video on YouTube.

Stone Creek Golf Club on CNBC

Stone Creek Golf Club in Oregon's Clackamas County is not far from my sister's house, and I visited the course and met with superintendent David Phipps on a recent visit to Oregon. We looked at the course on a busy Saturday morning, and I had a look again at the course and Phipps in the CNBC video "Going for the Green" that you can see above. One thing that Phipps mentions in the CNBC video is the relatively low water use on the course, particularly in the roughs and other areas around perimeter of the playing corridors. This is a practice that could be implemented at more courses in Asia. If grasses are chosen that can withstand drought, then it is going to save money and provide improved playing conditions by avoiding water application to areas outside of the main playing corridors.

At Stone Creek, the management of the property goes beyond just the playing corridors. Phipps showed me the wildlife corridors that go through the course and that provide shelter for the many types of birds and mammals and other wildlife that make the course home. The concept of wildlife corridors was also discussed at the recent IGOLF seminar at Singapore's Keppel Club. One thing that I found especially interesting at Stone Creek was a colony of small pollinating bees in a rather nondescript patch of the rough. Phipps has been working with the Xerces Society to manage the property in a way that will maximize the health of the insect populations there.

Stone Creek Golf Club is a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary and the Club along with superintendent Phipps have been recognized many times by the Environmental Leaders in Golf Awards.

Seeded Sea Spray Seashore Paspalum

Sea Spray is a seeded variety of seashore paspalum available from The Scotts Co. I have done experiments with this grass since 2005, first measuring how it grew in different sand types in a greenhouse experiment at Cornell University, and later measuring germination percentage of the seeds at Thailand and evaluating the grass for its general performance characteristics. At the our research facility near Bangkok, we have grown Sea Spray at both putting green height and at fairway height. The photo at right shows Sea Spray mowed at 4 mm during the Asian Turfgrass Field Day earlier this year.

We have tested the germination and the growth of this grass at Thailand and I have also seen it at Hong Kong. In appearance and in texture, the Sea Spray compares favorably with the vegetatively propagated seashore paspalum cultivars that I have seen. We have also observed, at Thailand, that pots of the Sea Spray that were allowed to go dormant from drought, upon re-watering the pots, recovered faster than did pots of Salam seashore paspalum that had also gone dormant. So there may be improved drought tolerance or faster drought recovery with this variety compared to the commonly used Salam variety.

The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) have posted a video about Sea Spray use at a new course in Mexico at the GCSAA TV website:

Mowing Patterns & Sharp Mower Blades

Turfgrass appearance is enhanced by the mowing pattern. Careful attention should be given to the mowing pattern that will be used at any turfgrass area, because just as a good mowing pattern improves the appearance of the turf area, a poorly-chosen mowing pattern can detract from the appearance of the grass and may also waste time and money. Some mowing patterns are more efficient and can save time to mow a given area. But it is not just the mowing pattern that should be considered; having sharp mower blades is also critical in creating mowing patterns that last (and not inconsequentially, sharp mower blades are essential in maintaining healthy turfgrass plants).

In a recent study at the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI), the striping effect produced when cutting the grass was found to be more pronounced when using a sharpened mower using no contact between the reel blade and the bedknife. The study was commissioned by Bernhard & Company, who manufacture sharpening equipment for mowers. Mowing is perhaps the most important maintenance activity for any turfgrass area, and mowing is essentially what separates turfgrass from forage grass.

The photo above (click the photo or here for a larger image) shows the damage that can occur when turfgrass is mowed with a maladjusted mower. This otherwise healthy sward of Zoysia matrella now has a white appearance because the leaf blades are all shredded. In addition to changing the color of the grass, making it less green, damaging the grass with a mower also puts a tremendous amount of stress onto the turfgrass plant, and may cause increased disease incidence and lack of vigor and a general decline in turfgrass performance. So, if we are to have beautiful stripes on the grass, or are to create any type of mowing pattern, whether it be complex or simple, the starting point is to cut with sharp mower blades.