Where's Spring?

I promise - spring will be here ONE of these days.  March 20^th officially marks the first day of spring, but the 10 day forecast doesn't promise any substantial warmth in the near future.  Think WARM!   Given the amount of snow cover this winter, concern has risen among superintendents regarding the health of their greens.  Ice can be a problem, especially if it’s a solid sheet of ice, as this may cause the grass to go anaerobic, i.e. suffocate.  At Kemper we currently have about ½” sheet of ice which appears to be porous.  This allows oxygen to reach the plant.  This is a favorable condition. 

A good test to see if greens are viable is to take plugs and bring them inside. This forces the grass to break dormancy and allows superintendents to assess the health of their greens with the snow cover.  On March 6^th, we took two plugs from the 5^th hole- one in the front and one in the back.  Currently everything appears to be healthy.  The images below show the increasing viability of the samples from March 6^th through today.