Jump to content
  • entries
    143
  • comments
    36
  • views
    774,595

Turf Laying is an Art


Frank Rossi

2,934 views

Every industry has its iconic characters. In the UK few would argue Old Tom Morris, Jim Arthur and Walter Woods are not icons among greenkeepers. In the US for me we have Sherwood Moore, Oscar Miles, Ted Woehrle, and my personal favorite, Wayne Otto. In Australia there is Claude Crockford.

 

ClaudeCrockford-196x300.gif

Crockford was the greenkeeper at the Royal Melbourne for 40 years from the 1930s to the 1970s. In 1993 he published The Complete Golf Course: Turf and Design as both an homage to Royal Melbourne and practical guide for the next generation interested in the lost art of low-tech greenkeeping.

 

I was able to observe the art of turf laying during my visit with Richard Forsyth that mirrored the chapter in Crockfords book. In speaking about the need for renovating putting surfaces he discusses the need to remove the organic mat below the surface and goes on to remind, despite the poor underlying conditions the grass usually remains quite healthy on the surface, a fact that will prove beneficial to the turf after relaying.

 

Crockford would carefully strip the sod by hand, a process he describes in explicitly specific details, so as to ensure the exact contours of the greens can be restored. After stripping the sod, any organic layer would be removed and replaced with properly specified rootzoone material. The sod would then be meticulously relaid and within a ten days open for play.

 

I can think of several courses I have visited over the years where this approach would have made sense. More often than not we rush to rid ourselves of annual bluegrass when it might be performing well. We may have a good stand of bentgrass or Bermudagrass but notice the rootzone not performing well. Is a complete renovation needed or can we simply strip out the layers and re-lay the sod?

 

Surely this would be considered a throw-back approach reminding us of the artistry lost on modern day golf turf maintenance, to which Crockford might simply respond as he does at the close of his book, you cannot just let it happen, you must make it happen.

1 Comment


Recommended Comments

Laying turf from scratch is quite straightforward. However, like all good things, it does involve some hard work, sweat and preparation before you jump right into placing an order.  The first step into landscaping your backyard and installing turf is to measure how much you need. A standard piece of turf will cover about 0.72 square metres. The next step to the turf laying process is removing any existing vegetation, rocks, stones or weeds. Spray your lawn with weed killer if required before removing the dead turf, so you have a firm surface to work with. Lay your first row of turf slowly to avoid damage. Place each piece tightly to the last and stagger the rows in a brickwork pattern until the entire area is covered.  As a turf specialist, Turfman provides a range of turf services for homeowners, landlords, and commercial businesses in Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and parts of the Gold Coast.

Link to comment
Guest
Add a comment...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...