Golf IRRIGATION: THE FUTURE
Should brown be the new green?
Water Management in uncertain times. Budgets stretched to breaking point. The spectre of climate change. The developing culture of retrospective blame. That degree in foresight you put off doing when you were in your twenties might have been a good idea.
Adrian Mortram, Managing Director of
Robin Hume Associates looks at water
conservation and usage in the future - in the short, medium and long term
O
ne thing is one hundred percent certain, water is essential for plant survival. I use the term survival and not growth intentionally; as we are not
farmers, we do not look for yield in our grass harvest, but a delicate balance between growth and playing quality. Over 90% of plant tissue is made up from the life giving liquid, it also contributes to cooling the plant, keeping it turgid and acts as a vital transport system for nutrients and chemicals around the plant. It is my endeavour, in this article, to look at ‘water conservation and usage in the future’ - in the short, medium and long term.
In the short term, follow the principals of ‘Best Practice’, and the development of exemplary cultural practices. Perhaps, you might say it is not within my remit to discuss cultural operations, but I would be failing in my duty if I were not to mention such considerations.
It goes without saying that aeration is
arguably top of the list. Deep aeration, by whatever means, will increase the root biomass, encourage deep rooting and present the sward with a greater opportunity to search for available
water. On the other hand, surface aeration, and the constant strive to control thatch, will encourage greater infiltration and allow vital dew to penetrate the rootzone before it is burned off and evaporated as the sun rises. The use of wetting agents and the benefits of switching will assist in the harvest of this small, but vital, free supply of water. Raising the height of cut, and even leaving the clippings to act as a mulch, will play yet another small, but significant, part in moisture conservation - but this may not sit too well with some of the membership - whilst clean sharp cylinders will minimise leaf wounding. The use of growth regulating chemicals are now increasingly common in turf management regimes, reducing the internodal length of grasses, producing denser swards and greater root biomass; seaweed extracts and soil ameliorants playing their part in the general awareness of rootzone quality. Gone are the days when quantities of unmentionable chemicals raped the soil fauna and microorganisms, leaving the rootzone inert.
Although perhaps not in the short
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