Raining fish and kelp...

Doug Ayres, Corral de Tierra Country Club, Salinas, CA:

"Keeping the greens (and all the other areas of the course) green and growing during the winter is a tricky job. Convincing grass that would normally take it easy for the winter to keep growing takes some special ingredients.

We have talked about some of the fertilizers that we use and the philosophy in the past. The method of application is also interesting. We use a nozzle made by FCI (Rainmaker) that we have calibrated to apply 11 gallons of mix per 1,000 square feet. That is important so that we know how much nitrogen or other ingredients we are really applying to the turf. The application may look haphazard or unsophisticated but it is really a great way to ensure proper overlap without tire marks or doubling-up of rates on the overlapped areas.

Also, it is a great way to get the fertilizer to interact with the soil, thatch and plant tissue all in the same application without the need to apply water through the sprinkler heads after the application."

Visit Doug's blog at corralmaintenance.blogspot.com.

Dormant zoysia spraying...

Joe Wachter, CGCS, Glen Echo Country Club, St. Louis, MO:

"Every winter season, we spray our dormant zoysia with an application of Roundup and preemergent(Ronstar) to the fairways, tees and warm season green surround areas. The Roundup targets the poa annua and knotweed that is beginning to grow in the fairways. The preemergent targets goosegrass and crabgrass that will begin to germinate in May/June.

You can see the spray rig tracks in the background and the turf dye that we use to prevent overlap issues.

Visit Joe's blog at http://geccgcm.blogspot.com.

New Plant Hardiness Map from the USDA

Michael Stachowicz, Dedham Country and Polo Club, Dedham, MA:

"New for you gardeners out there, a re-zoned Plant Hardiness map with 30 years of data behind it. The last map from 1990 only had 13 years of temperature data. On average, temperatures are about a half a degree warmer than the 1990 version.

The new map has a GIS-based format and a 'find your zone by ZIP code' function. It now has 13 zones (up from 11) with the addition of zones 12 (50-60°F) and 13 (60-70°F).

Plant hardiness zone designations represent the average annual extreme minimum temperatures at a given location during a particular time period. They do not reflect the coldest it has ever been or ever will be at a specific location, but simply the average lowest winter temperature for the location over a specified time."

Visit Michael's blog at mstachowicz.wordpress.com

New Assistant...

Neil Radatz, CGCS, Hawks Landing Golf Club, Verona, WI:

"I have hired a new Assistant who will be starting Monday next week. His name is Jeffrey Muller, he was previously employed as the Second Assistant from Oconomowoc Golf Club.

"Jeffrey was the only candidate who passed my Assistant test that I have all applicants take during the interview process...."

A very interesting note is that Jeffrey was the only candidate who passed my Assistant test that I have all applicants take during the interview process. Jeffrey was highly recommended by Dustin Riley. the Superintendent at Oconomowoc Golf Club. I am looking forward to his first day here at Hawks Landing."

Visit Neil's blog at hawkslandinggreens.blogspot.com

Rebuilding cooler stands...

Jeff Johnson, The Minikahda Club, Minneapolis, MN:

"This winter we decided it was time to rebuild our cooler stands. We've estimated the original stands were built over 25 years ago when Dan Hanson was the Superintendent. The wood slates have been replaced numerous times. The last time the wood was replaced was about 10 years ago. At that time we utilized cedar. The wood has held up well over the years. Annually the wood has been stained and the metal has always received a fresh coat of paint but the time has come to upgrade the quality and appearance.

This time we felt it was important to replace the wood with the identical wood that is used for the benches and tee markers. Our goal is to maintain a consistency with the products we use on the course and create a clean well maintained look, not only to the playing surfaces, but to the course accessories as well.

If we were to purchase the cooler stands that are made with the same wood type, costs would exceed $850 per stand. With nine stands needing new wood our costs would exceed $7600. We were able to purchase the identical wood for only $1500. Of course we will have a good number of our own man-hours into the project, but there is a certain amount of satisfaction that comes from doing the work in house.

Freshly stained wood

Metal bases had years of paint stripped and sandblasted off. Primer has been applied and now await a fresh coat of black paint.

Assembly of the the nine stands will take some time but when completed will have all new hardware and will be as good if not better than ones purchased from a supplier."

Visit Jeff's blog at minikahdagrounds.blogspot.com.