Conservation & Ecology
no longer allow these actions and have placed a total ban on tipping grass onto natural areas. Why, I hear you ask? I will move onto the science bit a little
later on but, if you tip your grass in a pile, the combination of resulting decomposing materials (including salts and organic acids) will scorch any underlying vegetation to a point where it will die off completely, including the roots. This is obviously not a good greenkeeping practice and, if the subsequent decomposing liquid reaches the sub soil, that too will become unsuitable for any further plant growth - the growth which eventually returns is often the so called poorer species of grass, such as annual meadow and yorkshire fog. You also have to take into account the fact
that the clippings could potentially be packed full of fertiliser, fungicide and/or herbicide and could still be active within the clippings you deposit near a pond or stream - therefore, there’s lots to think about when
disposing of your waste. The science part:
Compost, what is it? Put simply, it is decaying organic matter which is going to be used as a soil/sand amendment or as an organic fertiliser. However, compost (or composting) is not the part I am talking about today - humus is. Humus is the sought after end product of
composting, and it refers to the final point where organic matter will degrade no more. It is at this stage where it is suitable for returning back to your golf course or sportsground. Interestingly enough, humus can remain stable for hundreds of years in the correct environmental conditions, i.e. underground, and it is only when we start to add further organic matter, or we dig it up, that it becomes unstable again, so it is, therefore, important that the correct compost/humus is used in any fine turf environment.
I found out the following astonishing facts during my dissertation research on humus, including realising that it can hold between 80-90% of its own weight in moisture! Not only that, humus releases mild organic acids which dissolve minerals, including zinc and the all-important metallic nutrient, iron, which us grassland managers find so vital to turf performance. How does humus do this though? Via a
process called chelation, which is an in-depth subject in its own right but, for the sake of my word count, I shall keep it brief and indicate that chelation acts as a bridge from the previously locked minerals to the grass plant by forming a ring around them, thus freeing up for plant use. As this is scientifically the case, humus therefore affects our grass’s health by altering its ability to take up nutrients, which is what we want for our grasses, is it not? As I mentioned, we are actually looking for the end stage of composting, which is called
The majority of greenkeepers simply discarded their grass clippings into the woods out of sight, scattered in the eco rough or over the fence where it is no longer their problem
” PC APRIL/MAY 2015 I 113
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