Weighing Clippings

One thing that we do here at LGCC that I feel is very unique, is the staff weighs there grass clippings after they are done mowing greens each morning.  Every morning when the greens are walk mowed they dump their buckets into the back of their cart, after mowing there designated greens they empty their clippings at our dump site.  A couple years ago, I had the idea that since the clippings are all right there in their cart, why don't I put a bucket and shovel with a scale at the dump site, they could weigh their clippings each morning before dumping and report back a weight for each designated greens mowing route.

Our clippings weigh station at the dump site

Clippings in the back of a cart from the mornings greens mowing route, being shoveled into a 5 gallon bucket

Clippings being weighed

This information has turned out to be another very valuable tool that we use in managing our putting surfaces.  Surprisingly, the amount of dew in the morning or sand from topdresing does not effect the wight that much, a little increase is seen but not a big spike that throws our data off.  This information is another tool that truly lets me know what is happening with the greens.  We use moisture meters for water availability, we use stimpmeters for speed, we use firmness tools to check how firm the green is, and we all look into buckets every morning to see how much the green is growing and how much grass they are cutting.  This technique puts a true quantified number on the greens growth for the day before.  That information goes into a spreadsheet, and it is interesting to see the increase in growth after fertilizer and then the decrease that occurs over the next 14 days.

We fertilize our greens by spraying them every 14 days with liquid products, I do tweak that amount of fertilizer each application depending on time of year, disease pressure, upcoming events, and desired green speeds.  The amount of clippings helps me quantify how much fertilizer the plant needs that week and how much growth we are currently receiving.   It helps us achieve that consistency that I am always taking about throughout the growing season.

If you want to be as innovative as that "On Course" Colorado guy or impress your members as much as that plaid sport coat wearing comedian, try the idea of starting to weigh your grass clippings, you will be amazed by what information you learn from that.  Sorry LGCC members, an inside joke for my fellow superintendent readers in the turf world..