March 2021 Pitch Diaries
I started last month's diary looking towards the weather hopefully starting to improve by the end of February, and thankfully it has. However, that doesn't mean we can ignore the poor weather that has been before.
Spring is on the way at Hever Castle
The cold continued from the end of January and well into February with more freezing temperatures and snow cover, meaning prolonged issues for turf managers. Fortunately, the temperatures started to rise at the back end, and it felt like the 'false spring' had arrived. This has allowed many turf mangers to get some much-needed work carried out on surfaces. Although not the typical time to carry out 'extensive' work, there are many examples of success with utilising this method. There are undoubtedly though, also some examples of this being unsuccessful and highlights the point that everyone has different circumstances and we must try and do what is best for our turf on our site.
March's forecast looks unsettled, which is typical for this time of year. The start of the month, moving towards the middle, looks fairly settled with sunshine and showers, combined with favourable daytime temperatures, which should be encouraging for early season growth and recovery. The predicted night-time lows will restrict any great increases in growth potential and therefore fertiliser applications should be made with this in mind, with caution at making unnecessary applications of excessive nitrogen. Then towards the back end of the month it is forecast to be unsettled with multiple days of rainfall predicted. This coincides nicely (not) with the upcoming commencement of outdoor sports, following the government's latest COVID 19- lockdown restrictions update, allowing organised adult's and children's sport to take place from the 29th March, which will be welcomed by us all I'm sure.
In this month's diaries we discuss how the type of Nitrogen source(s) within fertilisers will play a major role in their selection including Nitrate, Ammonium, Urea, Urea Formaldehyde and Organic.
Don't forget, you can also use our Pitchcare Forum, where members can ask for and offer advice on the whole range of sports turf surfaces issues.