Preventing winter dessication with a ... skating rink?

We do not get remotely close to the cold temperatures I experience in the Mid-West growing up, but none the less, we need to watch our moisture content of the greens to ensure we do not lose any turf to winter dessication.  Winter dessication occurs when plants no longer have adequate amounts of available moisture in their root zones to survive.  Even during cold periods of the year when the grass is not actively growing we need to monitor the moisture levels especially when we reach daytime highs in the 60's and 70's here on the Central Coast.  Our nighttime temperatures have been in the mid 20's to lower 30's, but the frost actually takes alot of energy out of the plants and the turf works really hard to survive during this time of year.

In the foreground you can see the head that incurred the stuck valve. The result was a miniature ice floe that was nearly an inch think in some areas.

 

The warm air from a blower helped speed up the thawing process.

With our low rainfall totals over the past few weeks we attempted to irrigate the greens at Chalk Mountain this past week.  The photos here do not represent a burst line or head, but rather were the result of a stuck foot or bottom valve followed by temps in the lower 20's.  Even with daytime highs in the 50's our 9th green at Chalk Mountain has not thawed for a little over a week, as it does not receive significant sun this time of year.  So, when the foot valve stuck open the irrigation water froze on the greens surface.

Staff stole an idea from the grape and citrus growers in the area to help thaw the ice.  During frost periods vineyards often use windmills at low revolutions to keep the frost from setting on their crops.  This wind movement keeps the plants dry with the moving air and thus the frost is prevented.  Some farmers use helicopters once the frost has set on crops as the rotors move the sun heated air down onto the frost or ice covered crops below.  This method worked well in our case as the warm air from our blower melted the ice and little damage incurred because of quick action.  If the ice were to remain on the turf for more than 12 hours it may have suffocated as the leaves would not have been able to breathe.  In areas that receive significant snowfall, the snow actually helps the turf retain its moisture and dessication is rarely an issue because the snow is porous until ambient air temperatures become warm enough that melting begins.  At this point the snow must be carefully removed with snow blowers and shovels.

We have been busy lately so stay tuned over the next few weeks as we update you about our fencing project at Morro Bay, a stream bed project with the CCC's, some great wildlife photos, a perplexing irrigation problem, and a discussion about dormant turf!