Poa Verticutting Practices Cancel The title field is required!

1. Rocky Tharp

   

   0 posts
   
   3/18/2017 10:03 AM

   We generally verticut our 100% poa greens every other week in conjunction with topdressing during the growing season. We use 2mm carbide tip blades set about 1/8" below bedknife and fill up baskets about 1.5 times per green. We then blow off remaining debris with buffalo blower, mow and topdress.
   This works well on our particular greens but I just moved to a new course and would like to get a general idea of what others may or may not be doing out there on pure poa greens. I've never been a big fan of doing something just for the sake of doing it and I'm now working with less resources and flexibility than I'm accustomed to.
   
   Why (or why not) are you verticutting? Blade type and thickness? Frequency? Depth? Only before topdressing?
   
   Rocky Tharp
   West Seattle Golf Course
   Seattle, WA

   
   
   
   
2. Diaz Robert E

   
   3/22/2017 12:03 PM

   I am not an expert on poa management as I try to decrease poa in Vermont greens, it does not like harsh winters. I would question is this the only practice done to remove thatch and are you really removing thatch at an 1/8" depth. It seems like this would help spread the seeds all over the place. How much thatch is in your greens?
   I was under the impression poa is not an overly aggressive thatch producer. In my region I try to get the greens aerified and or dethatched w/ graden or mattaway at 1" depth when poa seeds are not present. Good luck hope this helps.

   
   
   
   
3. Mark Van Lienden

   

   14 posts
   
   3/23/2017 7:03 AM

   Hi Rocky, When I was in Northern California on the coast it was crazy how much we could verticut all year. Our climate was much like where you are. We verticut for better roll more than to remove thatch. Sometimes four directions on the same day. We tried different depths at different times of the year and seldom hurt anything. Maybe deep in August got a little burn. We were closed on mondays which allowed us to experiment.It was so much or our program that we could slowly ramp up or wind down depending on how it reacted the week before. My bent grass in the mid atlantic region did not respond like the coastal poa did there we verticut a couple times a year at mid depth but the greens did not seem to love it like the poa did.

   
   
   
   
4. Jay Neunsinger

   

   0 posts
   
   3/23/2017 9:03 AM

   Rocky....I do have pure poa greens in Northern California and the reason I v-cut every 2 weeks is to get sand into the canopy by the crown. Poa Annua has a high plant density per square inch vs bent grass and needs to be opened up to get the sand down and in.
   
   Our set-up:
   Carbide tips V-cut blades
   Depth: .20"
   Frequency: every 2 weeks when growing (Normally 9 months out of the year) then only once a month during cold periods.
   I do circle v-cut though. If you have any bent in there it will rip it right out.
   We don't use baskets. I just blow and mow afterwards, top-dress and then drag and we do 67K rounds a year and we aren't closed on Monday's like some (GOD I WISH)!
   
   Thatch removal: Use a graden or punch holes.
   
   I hope that helps!
   
   Jay Neunsinger