Drainage

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Drainage is of Paramount Importance if you are to succeed in the upkeep of your Greens, Tees, and Fairways.
Soil Water Terms Used In Irrigation...........

Capillary water.........

Capillary Water is Water loosely held by the soil particles and freely available to the Plant.
Water availability is the key issue in soils.Compaction, very heavy, or light soils will have reduced amounts of available water due to poor structure or lack of moisture-retaining organic matter.

Saturation Point..............

Saturation Point is when the soil is holding the maximum content of water, but no air is present.As in Winter flooding when the very wet conditions cause the surface to compact more than normal even at deeper layers than the surface.
In the Summer too, we can cause this where the soil structure is poor.
Roots will suffer through lack of Oxygen, and the micro-organisms which are essential for structure, fertiliser breakdown, and so on. These organisms will struggle to survive and thus render the soil very poor indeed.

Field Capacity...........
Unlike Saturation Point, Field Capacity is a very desirable moisture level in a rootzone.
In basic terms it is described as the maximum amount of water the soil can hold against gravitational pull. The soil has been drained of excess water and air has been allowed to enter the rootzone.
Structure of the soil will determine the amount of Field Capacity.

Available Water Capacity.............
The amount of water that is available to the plant in the soil as determined by texture and structure.

Wilting Point...........
Defined as the state of soil moisture reserves when the Grass has difficulty getting moisture.
There is effectively no available water for the plant to use. The soil moisture is progrssively working it's way down from Field Capacity due to the Grasses transpiring water from their leaves or evaporation from the soil surface has now run out.
In greenkeeping it should never be allowed to happen.Especially on Greens, where the irrigation has been constructed correctly, but on Fairways where there is no or little irrigation, in a drought state this could be achieved.

This Is A Pic Of CraigHead Where I Am currently Gaining The Basic Skills To Be a Green Keeper. Soil Moisture Deficit (SMD)............
The amount of water required to return the soil moisture level back to Field Capacity.
During warm windy spells of weather the grasses will use water for their 'internal processes', like Transpiration (which is to cool the grass). Removing the water from the soil via the roots and leaves produces a deficit.This deficit is normally expressed in millimetres.

Infiltration Rate..........
The speed in which water can pass through the surface of the turf area.
When we are applying irrigtion water to our turf areas we have to ensure that the output rate of the sprinklers is well matched with the rate that the surface can accept it,(Precipitation Rate), to avoid any run off or surface pools of water being produced.



To the right is a beautiful picture of one of my local golf courses.....The Balcomie Links, which is one of the two Courses you will find when visiting Crail Golfing society. The other being the Craighead Links. Balcomie Links. Even A Hole This Close To Water Can Suffer From Drought........