WEATHER SUMMARY – Spring/Summer 2009 (January - April)
Prevailing weather conditions have a marked effect on the management of turf.
In this feature we provide greenkeepers and groundsmen with an overview of current seasonal weather conditions and the effects these have had on growth. The review also provides a direct comparison between this year and the same season last year.
The summary is designed to help turf professionals to better understand the effects of the weather and what actions can be taken to alleviate problems caused by the weather.
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Soil Temperature Data
The year started extremely cold, in most parts of the UK and Ireland it was the coldest for the last 13 years with February in particular notable for extended snow cover in some areas for up to two weeks.
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Rainfall Data
Spring 2009 has, by and large, been dry for many after the heavy snow/rainfall of early February with Ireland, England and Wales experiencing a very dry March, typically with 55 – 65% of the average rainfall for this month. The driest areas were the East of England (55%), the Midlands (54%) and Munster (37%)
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Grass Agronomics – Differential Growth
The weather pattern of spring 2009 has produced the usual issue with differential growth between the three normal grass species present in the majority of golf greens in the UK and Ireland, that is Perennial Meadowgrass (Poa annua var. reptans), Annual Meadowgrass (Poa annua var. annua) and Browntop Bentgrass (Agrostis tenuis).
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IAll data kindly supplied by Sean Wilson, Course Manager at The Oxfordshire Golf Club.
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