Monday maintenance

 This past Monday we took advantage of our afternoon closure to take care of some routine maintenance practices to our MiniVerde putting surfaces. The first step was to vertigroom the greens at a very shallow depth. The depth is only deep enough to remove fat, horizontal leaf tissue without injuring the crown of the plant.

After vertigrooming, a light coat of green topdressing sand was applied. The sand will work into the channels created by the vertigroom. We topdress with green sand in the wintertime for many different reasons. First, the darker color on the leaf blade intercepts more sunlight than white sand, increasing the temperature of the plant. Second, by using green sand we are helping the greens hold their natural color when they try to go into a semi-dormant state caused by cooler temperatures. And lastly, the green sand blends in much better on the putting surface, so it doesn't appear as if the sand will affect playability. 

Finally, after topdressing, we brushed the sand in using brushes attached to a roller. Brushing and rolling at the same time not only incorporates the sand into the plant with the brush, but also packs the sand into the canopy by the force of the roller. Doing this also forces the leaf blade to grow upright, aiding in grain control.