The challenges of leaching
September 8, 2008
In a new PACE Turf Super Journal article, Kevin Hutchins, CGCS, superintendent at Mission Viejo Country Club (Mission Viejo, CA) evaluated the impact of leaching poorly draining fairways that have low saturated hydraulic conductivity. The fairway soils run as high as 20% clay and 30 % silt. Estimated saturated hydraulic conductivity is less than 0.4 inches per hour (1 cm/hr).
Irrigation was applied slowly in attempt to match soil infiltration rates. Fifteen minute irrigation cycles were followed by two hour…