Composting

Before working at The Preserve, I had never been to a golf course that collected their fairway mower clippings. I think the collection of clippings is significantly necessary. I had also never before worked at a golf course with bentgrass planted fairways. The fairways at The Preserve are planted bentgrass. Because of bentgrass fairways, there is a greater tendency for thatch accumulation in the turf profile. This can lead to spongier playing surfaces, localized dry spots, false crowning, and an increased requirement for inputs among others. Collecting our clippings is just one method we use to reduce potential thatch.

Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3

As you can see in Fig. 1 we mow our fairways with the Toro Reelmaster 5410 and the grass clippings are being collected in the basket attachments. Once the baskets are full, they are emptied in the back of a Toro Workman, or our customized Pronovost clippings trailer. The full Workman and trailer can be seen in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3. The clippings are then transported to our composting field and dumped in organized rows (Fig. 4) where the composting process will begin. You can see in Fig. 5 how big the piles can become over time. After the mound of grass clippings, straw, and horse manure is at the right size and ratio, it is time to start turning or mixing the piles. The machine used for this is seen in Fig. 6 and greatly helps with the process of decomposing organic matter. Composting is an interesting process and can be very useful for golf maintenance facilities if you have the extra space and correct equipment.

Fig. 4Fig. 5Fig. 6

Here is a link that provides the science of how composting works: http://www.howstuffworks.com/composting1.htm

Once the process of composting is understood, it is easy to see our goal. With our fairway, green, and tee clippings collected, we can compost them and our final product is created. This final product, seen in Fig. 7, is a rich mixture that is mixed with seed and re-used back on to the golf course.
Fig. 7