I
t’s been a while since I penned a few words for Pitchcare. The winter and spring have been exceptionally busy, and so it’s a relief to be writing this article from two points of view. The first is I can write about a subject that is close to most of us - controlling weeds, and not the seemingly endless rounds of impenetrable cobblers that come from Europe. The second point of view is that, as I write, spring is here! Last week the resident swallows arrived and the riot of noise and activity that they bring with them has kicked off. It’s like the first asparagus or strawberry of the year - a beginning to the next chapter of the season. If the old proverb is to be believed we should (fingers crossed) have a ‘normal’ year this year. Oak before ash and we shall have a splash, Ash before Oak and we shall have a soak. In Cheshire the Oaks won by two whole weeks which, I hope, means we will have a long dry summer. The previous two years have made life tough. Soft ground and persistent rain made travelling on turf tricky, and the days available to spray limited. So, it’s understandable that many pitches and courses simply didn’t get the chance to follow through with their weed control. So, this year, it is important to take advantage and catch up. The recession may make people nervous on committing to weed control, but the weeds don’t care and will carry on regardless.
So what makes a good turf weed?
In essence, a weed that can adapt to the regime we put grass through to make the surfaces we need to play our games on. Take the humble buttercup. In a meadow the creeping buttercup grows as tall as most of
the
grasses around it. On a golf course it grows flat to the floor to avoid being mown. It is able to adapt its growth habit to the constant trimming we subject it to. This applies similarly to plantains, white clover, and the good old daisy. So, given the ability of the weeds to adapt to our mower blades, they also need to spread. They have adapted here, too. Plants are lucky. They can perpetuate themselves, either with the help of a willing partner - seeding - or, if they don’t have that option, some can spread through propagation, or with runners. The weeds that spread this way are often the hardest to control, as each runner they put out allows a new point from which to draw nutrients and water, to sustain either the whole mother plant, or a new individual. Good examples of this are slender speedwell and, again, the creeping buttercup. Other ways to spread are via a big storage body - the perenating organ. Daisies and dandelions are the most common examples of perennials with this type of structure. They have a whacking great root that, when needed, can also adapt to propagate new individuals if the plant is attacked or disturbed. Fragments of the root are easily capable of becoming a new individual. Docks are famous for being able to
re-grow from root fragments. A 1cm section of a dock root is all it takes to grow into another plant! This may be bad from the point of view of a perpetual weed problem - but the smart thinkers amongst us know this can be a weakness we can exploit, too. Read on. Without doubt the toughest turf weeds to keep control of are the perennials. The annual weeds are less of a challenge - but they have their tricks as well!
Annuals have one season
to get through an entire life cycle. So, to ensure success, they have the Chinese army approach - lots and lots of seeds. As they seed so prolifically, the seed matures and germinates over a period of time. After the initial flush the germination tails off. This is crucial to understand; knowing this pattern in germination is another trait we can exploit when putting together a plan to control weeds in turf.
In addition to the plants, all the pitches and courses have an unseen reserve of weeds just waiting for their chance. The seed bank. A well managed grass sward is ideal at keeping out the newly germinated weeds, and preventing germination. But, there are opportunities that present themselves - and the weeds take their chance. Worm casts are a good chance. When the worms form casts they place soil bearing weed seeds in the ideal place to germinate, with no chance of the grass sward suppressing them. Gaps left from successfully treated weeds are often rapidly used by germinating opportunists. And again - we know this and so can plan to prevent it.
Integrated Pest Management or IPM.
Put in simple terms, it’s using all the tools in the box to achieve the optimum desired outcome for the grass you are managing. Never rely on any one tool, as it has gaps - use all of them together to minimise these gaps. This applies to all aspects of pest and disease management, but here I am focusing on weeds.
The first part is nutrition. Weeds thrive in a man made grassland environment as there is an abundance of available nitrogen. This free boost to their growth really speeds up their development and enables them to dominate the sward. The solution here is soil testing. Look at turf nutrition as a year long exercise in providing enough nitrogen potassium and phosphate to enable a healthy, vigorous sward, and no more.
Over the year the goal THE
PERENNIAL PROBLEM
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