How do our greens get green so fast? Read this post.

By Curtiss Conkright, Turf Superintendent

Whenever I tell someone what I do for a living there are usually two main questions they ask.

What do you do in the winter? And how do I make my yard green?

At Victory Links Golf Course one trick we use for getting our greens green before everything else is the application of black sand over our putting surfaces, which is done after the course closes in the fall. The sand is our normal topdressing sand dyed black and it offers protection to the crown of the plant over the winter months.  In the spring it has another benefit. Early green-up. The black sand will heat the surface of the green and raise the soil temperature to a level where growth is promoted.

Close-up view of the black sand covering the green

 

Assistant Turf Superintendent Ben Wallin using our Buffalo Blower making sure we get all the sand into the canopy of the turf.

 

After the heat we have been experiencing over the last week our greens have greened up nicely.