Restoring Soil and Turf Health After a Flood

Extreme weather events, such as rapid snow melt, prolonged spring rains, thunderstorms and hurricanes, can cause substantial damage to a golf course long after the high waters recede. When soils stay saturated for extended periods of time, turf struggles. Nutrients leach away. Microbial activity slows down. Safe levels can rise. Soil structure shifts and pH levels become harder to manage. Even after the skies clear, recovery takes time – and the longer turf sits stressed, the longer it takes to return to playability.

Submersion Injury

When submersed for extended period of time, grass is deprived of oxygen and begins to die. Not all turfgrass species respond the same way, however. Some are more resilient than others. While some grass types, such as Bermudagrass, tend to tolerate submersion for longer periods of time, others such as red fescue and perennial ryegrass fair much poorer.

Decreased Fertility

When floodwaters finally do subside, Superintendents often find that many of the soil’s nutrients have leached away, especially their levels of nitrogen and potassium.  An application of a balanced fertilizer will help boost the recovery of your greens and fairways. After a flooding event, select a program that favors growth of the turf until your greens have recovered. Our complete line of Kystal Klear chelated micronutrients are ideal for this purpose. To replace potassium, Suprex K29’s unique formulation of potassium acetate is designed for faster uptake with a low salt index making it safer for stressed out plants. Prudent RX provides phosphites, chelated micronutrients and amino acids to deliver critical nutrients such as Nitrogen, Nickel and Molybdenum to rebalance nitrogen cycling and correct nutritional deficiencies and help overcome symptoms of environmental stress.

Soil Structure

Flooding on a golf course can exacerbate soil compaction, especially when heavy machinery and foot traffic occur on saturated soils. Waterlogged soil loses its strength and ability to resist compression. This can lead to a reduction in soil aeration, water infiltration, and root growth after the flood. PN’s soil surfactant Exalt is optimal for this purpose. As a rescue application, Exalt reduces soil compaction, improves soil aeration and stimulates deeper root systems.

Salt and Sodium Levels

Turf damage becomes quickly magnified when flood waters contain contaminants from irrigation ponds or salt water.  High salt levels in your soil will slow turf recovery and can significantly harm turfgrass by drawing moisture away from the roots and prevent the absorption of essential nutrients – contributing to root damage, yellowing or browning of leaves, and stunted growth and germination. PN’s Exalt is designed to detoxify salt-contaminated soil and to flush sodium from the root zone without indiscriminately stripping the soil of nutrients.

Microbial Activity

As water fills the pore spaces in the soil, it displaces the air that is essential for plant root respiration and microbial activity. Flooding often reduces microbial biomass and can lead to a decrease in beneficial aerobic microbes and an increase in detrimental anaerobic ones. This can disrupt nutrient cycling, weakening plants and making them more susceptible to disease and pests. Denitrification, the process of which nitrate nitrogen is converted to nitrogen gas and lost to the atmosphere, can increase under flooded conditions, reducing available nitrogen for plants. PN’s soil inoculant RemeD8 can reintroduce beneficial microbes to your soil to restore healthy populations and assist turf in both the reduction in denitrification and recovery from stress.

Floods are a potential risk for many golf courses. Let Performance Nutrition’s lineup of products formulated to help promote the recovery of turf, soil and microbial eco-systems be part of your recovery plan.