July

Part 2 Winter projects. Build a putting green!

- by John Quinn, Master Greenkeeper

This one is not for the squeamish, but if you feel comfortable hiring and operating a small excavator and have a reasonable budget to play with, it is possible to undertake a variety of interesting (exciting even!) projects through the winter months. One of these which gets the golfers going is the prospect of their very own putting and/or chipping green.

John has been in the golf course maintenance and construction business for 24 years and is one of only 40 Master Greenkeepers world-wide. Greenmaster specialises in providing expert lawncare, golf course and bowling green maintenance. Find out more about Greenmaster at www.greenmaster.co.uk

The UK’s only lawncare company with Master Greenkeeper expertise

Here are January’s lawn care tips from Greenmaster’s Managing Director and Master Greenkeeper John Quinn.

Last month we looked at the steps involved and now its time to take these steps apart a bit further to explore the detail of doing the work.

Top Tip: In dry weather raise the height and don’t box off the clippings…let them fly.

Design and mark out your green

  1. Measure the piece of ground you are aiming to develop using a wheel or tape.

    2. Top Tip: Get into metric if you haven’t already as its much easier to plot and design your plan that way.

  2. Using graph paper draw out a plan of the area you have to play with, to scale.

    3. Top Tip: With graph paper you can use each big square as a metre and start to become pretty accurate with your drawing.

  3. Start to play around with shapes and sizes until you get something that suits the site and your own style. Use sweeping curves whenever possible and avoid straight lines.
  4. If you intend to build up mounds and bumps, make provision for blending these into the surrounding area gradually so that it doesn’t look too artificial and that it doesn’t turn into a nightmare to maintain. Remember your mower will have to follow the contours you are creating without digging in and scalping sharp crowns etc.
  5. On the ground with your drawing in hand, start to plan where the centre point of bumps or mounds will be and remember to allow plenty of reasonably flat areas to place your putting holes in.

Calculate budget required for completion of job

  1. Using your plan as a guide its fairly simple to come up with your budget. Things to consider include:
    1. How much turf? (measure straight off your plan in metres squared)
    2. Drainage. If you are installing drains, you will need a main pipe running the entire length of the green to the lowest point or outlet and lateral drains joining this every 2 to 4 metres depending on soil type and/or slope. Add up the total pipe required and order 80 to 100mm perforated pipe and joints as required. Remember to allow for pucka joints as bodge ups always fail eventually. Angus will keep you right here. You will also need gravel to back fill your drains. This should be double washed to prevent clogging up later and should be 5-10mm pea gravel. You will need approximately 1 tonne of gravel for every 15 metres of drain depending on the width and depth of your tracks. Gravel can be calculated as follows: Width X Depth X Length = volume in m3 . Multiply volume by 1.5 to get tonnage of gravel required, remembering to allow for pipe taking up some of the space.
    3. Rootzone. Will your existing topsoil be good enough to produce the surface you want? Look back to previous newsletters to decide on the issues here and call Angus for advice on buying rootzone material if you need it. Remember to leave at least 250mm rootzone depth after consolidation to allow for hole cups. Rootzone calculation is Green Area X Depth required (allow 50mm over for consolidation) = Volume. Multiply Volume by 1.8 to get tonnage of rootzone required.
Typical Green Profile Small excavator

Removing vegetation with a small excavator.

Larger excavator

And again on a slightly larger scale.

Green shape created in the subsoil

Here we see the green shape created in the subsoil and ready for the drainage to be installed.

Installing drainage

Starting to install drainage.

Next Month:

Shaping basics, drainage pointers, tips on installing rootzone, finishing work and a look at automatic irrigation systems.