Often, winter injury occurs in late February or early March after snow melts and temperatures warm slightly, only to be followed by a sudden freeze. However, it is not too early to start sampling areas of concern to assess current conditions and obtain real-time information about the impact of any ice encasement or direct low-temperature injury that may have already occurred.
This winter has been a mixture of cold days, mild days followed by quick temperature drops, and now much of the Northeast has snow cover. The inconsistent weather is what could lead to winter injury, which on Poa annua putting greens is often the result of multiple stresses acting together. If you have any concerns, bring plugs inside to somewhere over 65 degrees F to assess if winter injury has occurred. A few important areas to sample are:
- Any greens or areas of a green with a history of winter injury.
- Low-lying areas that hold water and ice.
- High-traffic areas that could have gone into winter stressed.
- Ridges or exposed areas that could succumb to injury from desiccation.
- Shaded greens or shaded areas on greens.
Lastly, the question of whether or not to remove snow and ice on greens is a tricky one. There is no correct answer here. There are superintendents who think removing snow and ice is important and others who would tell you the snow cover protects against low-temperature stress. Regardless of which camp you fall into, if you are going to bring samples inside right now, chances are you’ll need to remove some snow. The Green Section Record collection on winter injury has all you need to know about sampling and when, or if, you should consider removing snow and ice. Dr. Paul Koch at the University of Wisconsin also laid out some tips for dealing with winter injury to cool-season turf in this Green Section podcast episode.
Good luck this winter and let’s keep our fingers crossed for no damage. As we monitor the weather and plant health, expect to hear more from USGA agronomists on next steps if widespread winter injury occurs.
Northeast Region Agronomists:
Darin Bevard, senior director, Championship Agronomy – dbevard@usga.org
Elliott L. Dowling, regional director, East Region – edowling@usga.org
Brian Gietka, agronomist – bgietka@usga.org