Ice Damage and the Potential for Winterkill II

All over the Midwest, the question on every superintendent's mind seems to be, "what conditions will my greens be in coming out of winter?"  One can speculate all they want but there is a way to at least predict the amount of turf loss when the snow thaws and temperatures warm.  Pulling plugs from dormant greens and bringing them inside to break dormancy is a useful procedure used by superintendents for decades to see what they will be dealing with in the spring. 
Of the 20 putting surfaces at MCC, 8 are covered with the combination of bubble wrap and heavy tarps.  These covers have been, for the most part, completely successful in eliminating winterkill from these greens.  Notably, these greens have been the most problematic in the past and need this extra protection even during the average winter. The remaining 12 greens were sampled for turf recovery.  Two cores were taken from each green, in areas prone to winter damage (based on past experience).  The depth of the cores varied despite trying to keep them at a consistent two inches.  A grow lamp was utilized as well, set for a 12 hour cycle. 

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 6

As the pictures depict, the majority of the plugs show recovery and growth after only 6 days.  Weakened and dead plugs consistently had over 2 inches of dense ice formation, leading the crew to believe that these conditions are conducive to winterkill, obviously over extended periods of time.   The following table shows all the data collected from the greens during this process.  Depth of ice cover was an average taken from both sites of samples on each green but a special note was made if one of the plugs was underneath +2" of ice. 

While these sample results are promising, it is important to note that the greens are still under ice cover, and the potential for turf death only increases every day they are under ice.  Also of concern are the cold temperatures predicted into April.  Crown hydration and ice formation are still a real concern with the amount of water that could potentially sit on the green surface.  To limit the amount of water settling on these susceptible plants, the crew is removing the snow from all uncovered greens but even this presents the possibility of damage (weight on the green surface can crush the ice into the plant leaf blades and crown).  That being said, the dangers posed by crown hydration are greater than the risks associated with snow removal. In conclusion, while the majority of the plugs survived, it is important to remember that this isn't completely representative of what will happen in the spring.   We are not out of the woods yet by any means so please keep those fingers crossed and send the course some positive vibes.  Enjoy. 

 

Snow removal on the 16th Green

Snow removal on the 12th Green

Snow removal on the practice putting green required the use of the tractor