Sand topdressing and covers prevent winter desiccation on turf

Lack of season-long snow cover can result in substantial winter desiccation injury for golf course turf. The damage can pose serious economic consequences on golf and sports turf facilities the following spring. Under ideal conditions, winterkill from desiccation stress heals by mid-summer, but under-supported golf courses in rural regions may not have the means to recover from desiccation stress and could close permanently.

The intermittent nature of winter desiccation has made it difficult to study the efficacy of different preventative practices and products. This has led to widespread adoption of various prevention techniques with varied levels of success.

In an article recently published in Agronomy Journal, researchers in Nebraska evaluated winter desiccation survival on creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera Hud.) fairways treated with different prevention treatments in late fall. The treatments were applied at several golf facilities across Nebraska to increase the likelihood of lethal winter desiccation stress.

Treatments that covered the turfgrass during the winter had minimal winter desiccation injury the following spring. These treatments included permeable and impermeable protective covers and a liberal application of sand topdressing in November. Treatments that were spray-applied in fall did not provide sufficient protection to limit desiccation injury. The researchers also found that desiccation damage was significant when crown moisture content fell below 50%, which can be used to diagnostic lethal winter injury in the early spring.