All things turf health as we approach Summer 2023
A note from George Davies :?
With June 21st marking the ’start of summer’, we hope to see our night time temperatures increase from single digit to double digit figures. Everyone has noticed how cold the Easterly wind has been recently and the Polar Easterlies are dry, cold prevailing winds emanating from the polar high, an area of high extremely pressure around the North Pole. They also happen to be the reason why I froze camping out in the garden during the half-term with my 2 young girls when the temperature dropped to 4 degrees… But when the sun does come out, we have seen some amazing blue-sky days and the cool Easterly wind have been most welcome.
But what this has done is absorb every ounce of moisture out of the soil over the last few weeks as the air has been very dry and low in humidity. The weather turned late May, and in that time the soil has gone from being waterlogged to cracking in many places, the field drains have stopped running and the grass growth has slowed up.
So, what does all of this mean for my turf?
Even though there is talk of the weather breaking down in the middle of June with an increased risk of thunderstorms, the wind direction is still forecast to be from the East, so any rainfall will be very localised and can't be relied upon. Until we see the wind direction change, be very mindful of the moisture deficit occurring on a daily basis.
What’s happening at GDT
May was an exciting month at GDT with a LOT going on. And it looks as if June is gearing up to be the same...
Turf Shelf Life for Early Summer 2023
With the night time temperatures being so low at present, the soil temperatures are still below average and therefore reduce the amount of heat that is being trapped when the turf is rolled up. This is a good thing at present as it gives everyone a bit more breathing space before the turf starts to deteriorate, but it can change extremely quickly, with the lack of rainfall the turf farms are flat out irrigating the fields and while every effort is made to get an even spread of water across the fields, the constant fluctuations in wind speed do mean that some parts of the field get more water than others (hence why some pallets are wetter than others). On occasions where you have wet pallet, make sure you lay this turf first as it will go off the quickest given its warm and wet.
As the weather can turn exceptionally quickly at this time of year, so can the turf shelf life, a thunderstorm can lead to the atmospheric nitrogen molecules being released in the atmosphere which will then dissolve and fall as precipitation. This will give the turf fields an added boost in fertility, increase their growth rates and then when they are rolled up the grass inside the roll is still trying to grow quickly producing more heat and then deteriorate faster.
When these conditions do exist please only have the turf delivered when your area is fully prepared, and then lay the turf immediately as a few extra hours being rolled up can make the difference between a WOW factor and a feeling of disappointment.