Southern California Turfgrass CultureA Quarterly Publication devoted to the activities of the Experimental Program in Turfgrass Culture

of the College of Agriculture. University of California, Los Angeles 24, California.

OCTOBER, 1954 VOLUME 4 - N U M B E R 4

CONFERENCE ON TURFGRASS CULTUREThe 1954 conference will consist of meetings held at

the Elks Club, 607 Parkview Street (near MacArthurPark at Wilshire) in Los Angeles on Monday, October 4.This will be followed on Tuesday, October 5, by a char-tered bus tour of interesting turfgrass areas in LosAngeles County. A registration fee of $1.50 will becharged at the conference, which will not include cost ofmeals or bus transportation.

A notable group of authorities will appear on the con-ference program. We are fortunate in having with us Dr.Fred V. Grau, Mr. John Gallagher, Dr. Robert M. Hagan,Mr. W. A. Harvey, Dr. James R. Watson, Jr., Mr. CharlesG. Wilson, Mr. 0. J. Noer, and others.

Monday morning will be devoted to a program of lec-tures. The afternoon program will consist of rotatingpanels in sections devoted to the following interests:

1. Parks, recreation, athletic fields, cemeteries,industrial and school grounds.

2. Golf courses and bowling greens.

3. Landscape architects and contractors, governmentalagencies.

4. Nurserymen and home lawns.

The chartered bus tour on Tuesday will be preceded byan inspection of the experimental turf plots at 300 VeteranAvenue on the U.C.L.A. campus beginning at 9:00 A.M.The bus will leave the area at 10:15 A.M.

Programs of the conference may be obtained from theDepartment of Conferences and Special Activities, Ex-tension Division, University of California, Los Angeles24, California.

DR.ROBERT M.HAGAN

0

0 MR.W.A.HARVEY

MR.CHARLESK.HALLOWELL

ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR THERESEARCH PROGRAMa;;hTURFGRASS CULTURE

University of California, Los AngelesMr. Colin C. Simpson, Chairman

Southern Cal i fornia Golf Associat ion

Mr. F. W. Roewekamp, Secretary

Park Development Supervisor

Department of Recreat ion and Parks

305 C i t y H a l l

Los Angeles 12, California

Mr. Joseph Beeler

Cal i fornia Landscape Contractors Associat ion

Mr. Wi l l iam Beresford

Golf Course Superintendents Associat ion of America

Mr. Frank Col l ier

Athlet ic and Recreational Turfgrass Associat ion

Mr. Leo Davis

Cal i fornia Fert i l izer Associat ion

Mr. Harold A. Dawson

Southern Cal i fornia Golf Associat ion

Mr. Wi l l iam G. Hay

American Lawn Bowling Association

Mr. Wi l l iam Johnson

Nat ional Gol f Foundat ion

M r . E . B . M a r z o l f

Implement dealers

Mr. Raymond E. Page

Southern Cal i fornia Chapter of American

Society of Landscape Architects

Mr. Roy Eaton

Mr. Frank Post

Interment Associat ion of Cal i fornia

Mr. David M. McFaddenSeed dealers

Mr . Gomer Sims

Public Links Golf Associat ion

Mr. Wi l l iam W. Stewart

Southern Cal i fornia Golf Superintendents Associat ion

Mr. Char les Wenger

Los Angeles City Schools

Mr . R ichard Westcot t

California Association of Nurserymen

Mr. Vern Wickham

Los Angeles County Parks & Recreat ion Department

H O N O R A R Y M E M B E R S :

D r . F r e d V . Grau

West Po int Products Corp .

Mr. Charles K. Hollowell

Agricultural Extension ServicePennsylvania State Universi ty

P r o f . H . B . M u s s e r

Department of Agronomy

Pennsylvania State Universi ty

Mr. 0. J. Noer, Agronomist

Milwaukee Sewerage Commission

Mr. Char les G. Wi lson, Regional Director

U. S. Golf Associat ion Green Section

This publ icat ion “Southern Cal i fornia Turfgrass Cul ture”

i s s p o n s o r e d a n d f i n a n c e d b y t h e R e s e a r c h A d v i s o r y

Committee. Communicat ions should be sent to the Secre-

tary, or to Dr. V. T. Stoutemyer, Department of Flor icul ture

and O r n a m e n t a l H o r t i c u l t u r e U n i v e r s i t y o f C a l i f o r n i a ,

405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles 24, Cal i fornia.

TURFGRASS SURVEY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY

This survey has been in progress for a considerableperiod of time and has just been printed. It is the firstdetailed survey of this kind to be made for any area inthe state.

Distribution is in progress by the secretaries of thevarious organizations interested in the experimentalprogram in the culture of turfgrasses at U.C.L.A. TheSurvey will be discussed in a future issue.

RECENT GIFTSHardie Manufacturing CompanyLos Angeles

4” plug cutter

U. S. Golf Association Green Sectionof New York

Q300.00

WESTERN GRASS NURSERY

As a public service, we plan to list from time to timeWestern nurseries which can supply stolons of the newerstrains of vegetatively propagated grasses. A new sourcefor zoysias and bermudagrasses is

The Turfgrass Farm4961 East 22nd StreetTucson, Arizona

Here is probably the only large commercial stock ofMeyer zoysia in the West.

Mr. Milo Perkins, the proprietor, was a prominentWashington, D.C. figure for many years in the U.S. De-partment of Agriculture, and later during World War II wasin charge of the program of Economic Warfare.

RESEARCH GRANT FOR SOIL STUDIES

The recent drastic reorganizations of structure andpolicy of the U.S. Golf Association Green Section haveemphasized extension services to member clubs. How-ever, it is now apparent that the Green Section is en-couraging and underwriting the cost of research projectsat Colleges of Agriculture over the entire country. Weare happy to announce that a grant of $300 in funds hasbeen made to support the work of Dr. 0. R. Lunt of theDepartment of Irrigation and Soils on physical structureand compaction of soils in relation to the culture ofturfgrasses.

The Green Section has also supported the research ofDr. Robert M. Hagan at Davis on irrigation and depth ofrooting ‘of grasses.

THE VERTICAL MOWING OF GRASSC. Gordon Wyckoff, Senior Laboratory Technician

Department ofricultureweFloriculture and Ornamental Horticulture

University of California - Los Angeles

In areas where bermudagrass is well adapted, it haslong been a standard practice to remove periodically orthin out the thick mat which invariably develops onbermudagrass turf areas. This mat is a combination ofliving grass stolons and dead grass clippings. It buildsup rapidly if the clippings are allowed to fall and ifmowing is rather high.

The development of “grain” in bentgrass putting andbowling greens is a frequent undesirable condition whichvertical mowing prevents. The removal of “thatch,” thesurface layer of dead grass clippings, has done much toeliminate localized dry spots on all turf areas. Suchareas are extremely difficult to wet once they develop,particularly if there is an appreciable slope to the ground.Aerating such areas and removal of the material pre-venting water penetration are the best treatments forthis problem.

The process of removing this mat is often called“renovation” and the machines for doing the job, “reno-vators.” A renovator is a machine with a series ofvertically revolving knives that cut and tear out thecreeping stolons and lift the dead organic matter to thesurface. Renovation is usually a very severe treatmentof a lawn area and is done most often in the fall of theyear. The knives are set deep enough to remove the

dormant bermudagrass and stir up the surface of the soilto provide a shallow seedbed for reseeding with a cool-season grass. Renovation is often done in alternateyears, but also annually or at irregular intervals.

More recently some manufacturers have refined thebasic principles of this machine for more precise controlof the action on a less severe basis. Additional kniveshave been added to permit a more even cutting andthinning job and the controls for setting the depth ofcut have been made more flexible to enable the operator

to set the machine with greater precision. Treatmentsmay now be given without interfering with the appearanceor the use of the area.

New clonal strains of bermudagrass are rapidly re-placing common bermuda on highly specialized turfareas, and while they are far superior to common bermu-dagrass, they likewise require periodic thinning for bestresults. Vertical mowing in two directions has proven

to be the fastest and easiest method of thinning bermuda-grasses.

Vertical mowing has been promising in the control ofnoxious weeds. The spread of crabgrass runners can bediscouraged and reseeding greatly reduced by cutting offthe seedheads as they emerge from the sheath. Creepingperennial weeds are also held in check by periodicmowing with these machines. Data obtained in studiesby John Gallagher, working with Professor H. B. Musserat Pennsylvania State College, will shortly be made pub-lic. Their experience indicated that the Verti-cut moweroffers a practical method for the control of crabgrass insmall turfgrass areas.

Another possible value of vertical mowing is in thekeeping of certain combinations of warm-season andcool-season grasses in permanent satisfactory balance.An illustration of this is given by recent experiences atU.C.L.A. with the mixture of U-3 bermudagrass withMerion bluegrass. This has produced one of the finestquality lawns we have ever seen when relatively new.Unfortunately, as the’mat of stolons piled up thicker andthicker, the growth of Merion bluegrass was suppressedto a point where it was inadequate to furnish winter color.

A year ago, an area of these grasses in mixture inwhich the Merion bluegrass was so reduced that it wasbelieved to have died out entirely, was given a verticalcutting and the thatch was removed. A surprising amount

(over)

The Verti-cut Mower The Verti-cut Mower

ALUMINUM R O L L E R R A K E “THE BIG GUS”

NEW LAWN MAKING EQUIPMENThardpan A combination belt and friction clutch arrange-

In line with our belief that the future development ofturf culture is closely connected with mechanization, we

ment permits a full power forward and backward. The

wish to call attention to several pieces of equipmentapparatus is geared for a rapid movement and will easily

developed locally by Mr. G. J. Hartman and Mr. Johndouble the speed of seedbed and site preparation. This

Margherio, which should be of much interest to those whois an important saving for landscape contractors. This

install lawns or other turf areas where considerable true-equipment is ideally adapted for use in small areas.

ness and quality is needed in the preparation of the The same inventors have also developed a largeseedbed One of these is an outfit called “The Big Gus” toothed rake with an aluminum roller and also a levelingwhich consists of a small water roller, rubber covered, blade with the same roller, which both help to eliminatewhich is powered with a four cycle Kohler gasoline drudgery and speed up site preparation. Manufacturingmotor. This has a blade in the rear for grading, and in rights to these three new equipment items will be as-the front, several teeth may be lowered for breaking up signed to the Mefco Manufacturing Company of Glendale.

THE VERTICAL MOWING OF GRASS(continued)

of Merion bluegrass reappeared and supplied an excellentwinter color. Studies on this promising new lead will becontinued. Another possible approach to the problemwould be to prevent the appearance of thatch by frequentvertical mowing during the growing season. There arereports of weekly use and in one instance of use twicemonthly or weekly on bermudagrass putting greens in theSouth. It should be emphasized that these machines arenot renovators, but are maintenance machines for frequentuse at light settings.

Another effect of vertical cutting which has beenclaimed in areas where grasses are subject to infestationwith scale insects is that by removal of the old stems,the insect population is reduced. Also, greater freedomfrom turf diseases can always be expected when theformation of thatch is prevented.

Experience has produced several practical sugges-tions. It is well to change direction of operation witheach use. Avoid excessive speed. Don’t set the cuttingblades too deeply or scars may be left on the surface.Once over the area is sufficient at one time. A practicalway to remove clippings from vertical mowing is to fol-low with a ‘mower with grass catcher.

Years ago the Del Monte greens rake accomplished asimilar objective for bentgrass putting greens, but thepioneer modern introduction in vertical mowing equipment

was the Verti-cut, manufactured by the West Point Pro-ducts Corporation. A more recent arrival is available locally from the Hardie Manufacturing Company, and is amodification of the Hardie renovator much used by gar-deners in southern California. A third outfit is the Par-Thatcher, a light, small piece of equipment which issubstituted for the reel and bed bar of an ordinary greens-mower. Doubtless this is only the beginning and otherinteresting pieces of equipment will be introduced.

This new development in maintenance of turfgrass isso recent that there are few exact experimental data onmany of the varied aspects of vertical mowing. However,practical observations have long testified to the needfor this sort of treatment. It is particularly importantwith the fast growing, stoloniferous grasses which are soprevalent in California. Unquestionably, this new equip-ment represents a definite milestone of progress. It isone of the many signs of vigorous activity which char-acterize the field of turfgrass culture today.

In order that the information in our publications may bemore intelligible, it is sometimes necessary to use tradenames of products or equipment, rather than complicateddescriptive or chemical identifications. In so doing it isunavoidable in some cases that similar products whichare on the market under other trade names may not becited. No endorsement of named products is intended,nor is criticism implied of similar products which arenot mentioned.