When I was just starting my grounds career at George Mason University, I decided to pursue a certificate in turf maintenance. The first required class was Turfgrass Management. Our assigned text bore the same name and was written by AJ Turgeon. I imagine many of you have studied the same text. The first thing I learned was the characteristics influencing turf quality. The title of this blog is an acronym of those characteristics. Size, texture, rigidity, elasticity, density, growth rate, yield, color, uniformity, and verdure. I recall there being several unremembered “S” words , but this cheat allowed me to pass the test. It still amazes me that turfgrass demands such rigorous evaluation. This is what separates lay people from the professionals. Simply put, good grass requires rigorous culture. But, with limited resources, what is the one best thing to do?

Integrated Pest Management
Turfgrass is constantly exposed to a myriad of pests. Virus, fungus, insects, nematodes, etc. are all eager to attack and damage your turf. The very best defense is healthy grass. Grass under stress decreases resistance and production of defensive compounds, opening the door to attack. All of us Turf Managers experience pests in different ways based on grass type, geography, expectations, etc. My most impactful pest experience is Brown Patch (Rhizoctonia). In my first large encounter with BP, I used a combination curative/preventative fungicide with good results, but it was rather expensive. Since, I have used cultural means (minimizing leaf wetness, decreasing irrigation during humid nights, sharp blades, etc.) to diminish out breaks to below treatment thresholds. I am a firm believer in IPM approach of least toxic controls, tolerating a low level of pests to maintain predatory/antagonistic organisms, and diversity to prevent catastrophic failures.

Aeration
In my grass growing experience I have dealt almost exclusively with “native” soils. I use quotations because these soils are highly disturbed and usually degraded by previous poor management. Similar to the premise of this “one thing” blog, I believe the one thing that best remediates my soil is aeration. Compaction, and its many negative consequences for healthy turf, is a big issue for turf stands. Our team core aerates as frequently as conditions allow. Our tool is a common 60” 3-pt hitch spoon-wheel implement. We usually get 2.5”-3” cores. Cores are left on the field to disintegrate. We do not top dress but occasionally will apply pelletized corn gluten or alfalfa to enrich soil fertility (N) and add some organic matter. Aeration will also be performed ahead of overseeding. Core depth at this time is limited to less than ½ inch as best possible. This provides an appropriate depth seed bed for germination. I have heard relatively shallow core aeration may create a subsurface band of soil compaction, but I believe the overall benefits outweigh this concern. Deep tine or soil shattering of some kind might be beneficial, but I have not actively explored how to get this accomplished.

My Number One  Practice is… Overseeding
I feel adding turfgrass seed, with desirable attributes, to be the single best thing I can do for my turf. Modern cultivars, focusing on our preferred Turf Type Tall Fescue (TTTF), have traits selected for superior performance. I believe it is hardly a stretch to say they can make the best of any turf regimen and location. Good turf cultivars can go a long way to maximizing the efficacy of the aforementioned cultural practices. As new plants germinate and grow, plant density increases. This coupled with improved pest resistance can help to alleviate weeds and disease, two common pests. Drought tolerance traits improve ability to manage drouthy periods. Add in the occasional Bluegrass seed and diversity is improved. My  biggest problem has been seeding timing and inadequate post seeding rainfall. Germinated seedlings have reserves to last up to 2 weeks (fingers crossed). But this is in general and hard to guarantee. Therefore, some seeding is not successful. Thus, it isn’t uncommon for us to apply seed in early spring, late summer, early fall. With 1 pound of TTTF having about 200K seeds (we seed at 2-4# based on stand density/quality and to save $), eventually the odds are in our favor.

The Often-Forgotten Step
Ideally, I would undertake all turf culture perfectly to improve the health and appearance of my turf. But I am not in any ideal world or even close. So, while I want the best grass possible, and have the know-how, I am limited in the interventions available to my operation. We do the best we can, using sound science, good tools, and lots of hard work to put out the best product we can. But if a patron here wants golf course quality, they are going to be disappointed. This limitation is not our fault. We are resource limited in steps we can perform. We always keep trying harder, but I believe our organizations should take some responsibility for setting the threshold we meet. If the why of our overall turf quality standard was articulated to campus, it might create acceptance rather than regret the standard is not higher. Or it might even prompt an increase in resources to achieve higher quality. Maybe. But for now, our operation will keep doing our best, with what we have, and keep plantings seeds.