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Many factors influence the rate of ET on your playing surface; these include the grass species, the height of cut, and the weather


DAISY (Bellis perennis


DAISIES are low-growing perennials that are commonly seen in turf grass swards, the plant form is seen as a rosette of oval basal leaves with white or pinkish flowers. Daisies flower profusely on upright stalks throughout the season. Daisies can grow and establish in a wide variety of situations including lawns, golf-courses, playing-fields, pastures and roadside banks.


Roots: Daisies have strong rooting structures, comprising a tap root and rhizomes, enabling the plant to establish itself in most soil conditions.


Flowers: The daisy flower has white petals and yellow centres, although flowers are sometimes a pink or rose colour. Plants have 75-100mm flower stalks. The flower stalks are generally longer than the leaves; stems are smooth and leafless and support a single flower.


The flowers close at dusk/evening, and reopen the next day.


Leaves: Leaves are narrow at the base and slightly lobed, usually grouped together forming a rosette appearance. Daisies have a prostrate or spreading growing habit. Leaf texture varies and may be smooth or hairy.


Reproductive method: Daisies reproduce by seed and rhizomes.


example a particular area - say a shaded golf green - takes longer to dry out, so less water is applied, whereas the converse can apply to another green on the same site.


Measuring ET is quite straight forward, but can be time consuming, in fact it can take two to three years to acquire reasonable ETc and Kc values. The simplest method is to use a ‘weighing lysimeter’ which is, essentially, a receptacle with the same rootzone and turfgrass as the playing surface. The lysimeter is saturated and allowed to drain to field capacity, weighed to determine the initial weight, and then set into the ground, ideally the playing surface or adjacent to it in an area that has the same environment/maintenance regime as the actual playing surface. The lysimeter is then reweighed 24 hours later, and the ET can then be determined by calculating the difference


between the initial weight and the final weight. If you don’t want to dig holes and insert lysimeters into your surfaces, you have the option of atmometers. These have the added advantage that they do not interfere with the playing surface, and can be dotted around the area of your facility to show the variation in ETo across the whole site, which will enable you to adjust your water applications accordingly. However, atmometers only generate the ETo value, ascertaining the Kc to calculate the ETc is more difficult as there has not been a great deal of research on sports turf ET in a UK environment. Finally, if you have a weather station on your site, or access to weather data from a nearby weather station, it is possible to estimate ETo values with an empirical model, such as the Penman-Monteith model. Fortunately computer software packages that carry out the


calculations, once the weather data has been inputted, are available.


IN an ever changing world where global warming and declining resources are at the forefront of European Union environmental policies, the correct management of irrigation water has become crucial. In other sectors of land management, for instance agriculture, the


measurement or estimation of ET to aid irrigation scheduling is common practice. Perhaps now is the time to make it a common practice in sports turf management.


Back in 1999 after ten years in turfgrass management, Colin left his position of Head Greenkeeper at the North Weald Golf Club in Essex to become a full-time student. He is now in the final year of his engineering doctorate (EngD) at Cranfield University, where he is conducting research on precision irrigation for the Jockey Club.


Habitat: Daisies thrive in moist, cool and low fertile conditions but have also been cultivated to produce colourful spring bedding material for gardens, with a range of colours available (pink, reds and whites).


Cultural Control: Daisies can be mechanically removed from lawns. Rosettes should be dug up using a knife or weed fork ensuring that all the root system is removed. Maintain a high sward density, preventing bare soil areas being available for weed seed germination.


Chemical Control: Apply selective broadleaf herbicides when plant growth is active. There are a number of products available for controlling broad leaf weeds in established turf. These chemicals are best used when the weeds are actively growing, usually between April-October.


• Intrepid 2. (Contains 20.8g/L dicamba,166g/L dichlorprop-p ans 166.5g/L MCPA). Scotts.


• Greenor. (Contains: 40g/L fluroxypyr, 20g/L clopyralid and 200g/L MCPA). Rigby Taylor.


• Bastion T. (Contains: 72g/L fluroxypyr and 300g/L mecoprop-p ). Rigby Taylor.


• Dormone (Contains 465g/L2,4- D(38.1%w/w) as the diethanolamine salt). A herbicide which can be used near water. Bayer Environmental Science.


• Supertox 30 (Contains 95g/L (8.8%w/w) mecoprop-p and


93.5g/L(8.7%w/w) as the diethanolamine salts). Bayer Environmental Science.


These herbicides are usually applied as a liquid using watering cans, knapsack sprayers and vehicle mounted sprayers.


Ensure you follow manufacturer’s directions, health & safety and product data sheets, and comply with COSHH regulations when using these chemicals.


57 Image courtesy of Steven Speilburg Inc.


OF THE MONTH


WEED


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