Shade and Grass?

Published June 23, 2005

Earlier this year one of the members asked me why the grass around the bunkers on the right side of #15 green was thin and in poor condition. My answer at the time was "too much shade". This photo was taken on June 23rd, one of the longest days of the year. At 1:00 in the afternoon this area is still shaded. As I have mentioned in earlier posts, grass needs at least 8 hours of direct sunlight to perform well. It's really plain and simple, grass needs sunlight to photosynthesize and produce sugars for food. If it can't do that, it becomes weak and its performance is reduced. What's the answer? Need more sunlight! In addition to the trees grabbing most of the sunlight, the roots from these trees also out compete the grass for water and nutrients thus further reducing the grasses ability perform well.

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