What to do about Crabgrass this year

With the warm temperatures last week and the possibility of an early spring, the question arises  - When do I put my Crabgrass preventer down?  Here is a great video recently posted by the Ohio State Turf Team:

http://ohioturfgrass.org/Turf-Tips

A few things to consider:

• Findlay is about 1 week behind Columbus in terms of phenological events in the spring transition.
• If you apply your Crabgrass preventer too early, the product will lose its efficacy earlier causing more weeds later in the summer (August and September).
• Any crabgrass that happens to germinate in the near future will most likely be killed off by a frost.
• The Crabgrass preventer being sold in our home lawn program has pre and post-emergent activity, providing control on young crabgrass plants.

Great week of progress

The abnormal weather was not only great for the golfers, it was an opportunity for us to get a few projects and tasks done that we normally wouldn't be working on at this time of year. 

We got an early start on our stick clean up, this year we might be done before we would typically start picking up sticks.  This will allow us to move on to other tasks quicker and complete other projects on our to-do list. 

Believe it or not, we mowed all the fairways this week - in February!  This wasn't to produce outstanding conditions for the few golfers, they actually needed it. 

 

It felt great to open up the doors and let that fresh air in.

And have you noticed the trees, they to are waking up from the winter along with the tulips and daffodils. 

 

Normally at this time of year the ground would be froze and we would be taking down trees.  While the ground conditions aren't conducive for this type of work, we are busy getting other projects completed. 

 

Course closure update

What a great opportunity we had to enjoy the course in February!  Unfortunately this temporary opening will have to end after tomorrow (Friday).  We will be open on Friday, but will have to close the course for the remainder of the winter effective Saturday, as temperatures will be dropping and rain will be moving into the area, increasing the chance for damage to the course.  Please note, if we see rain tonight, the availability of carts for Friday will be in question depending on the condition of the course.  It was great to see faces out on the course, we will see you out here again very shortly. 

Course will open in February for a limited time!

Wow, have you seen the 10 day forecast for Findlay?  We are going to take full advantage of this remarkable warm spell and open up the course temporarily.  Here are the highlights:

• Starting at 10:00 am this Saturday the golf course will be open.
• The course will remain open through this warm spell, most likely through next Friday the 24th.
• Tee times will begin at 10:00 am on the days we are open due to the potential for frost. 
• Should we see heavy frost we may have to push back the start times.  Remember -it won't be 60 degrees until about 2:00pm, it will still be quite cold in the morning.
• Pins will be in the greens; we are not seeing any frozen soil under the greens, therefore the greens will be open for play.
• Carts will be allowed; the course is quite dry for this time of year, should we see a rain event come through we will have to pull carts.
• If you want to get 18 holes in, make sure you tee off by 2:00.
• Be aware the greens are quite soft this time of year, please fix your ball marks.   
• Once the weather turns cold again we will have to close the course back down for the winter. 
• Grab a friend and get a few rounds in, you don't get opportunities like this very often.