ONLINE GREENKEEPING COURSE
Learn to repair and renovate degraded turf.
Turf does deteriorate if it is not monitored, maintained and repaired. This course develops your ability to diagnose and treat problems in turf. This is a stand alone course -take it either by itself or together with our other turf courses for a broader and more in depth knowledge of turf care.
Gain valuable skills in:
- Optimising turf usage
- Learn to improve the health of lawn and greens
- Weed management techniques
- Turf renovation
- Planting turf
- Turf nursery skills
- Aeration & Irrigation problems and much more
Comment from Student: "In my role within a large Aged Care Facility a great deal of my employment is spent in the area of Turf management and garden care/refurbishment. With ACS I was able to study at my own pace allowing me to put into practise and thoroughly research the subject matter broadening my knowledge and study experience further. I enjoyed the way in which the subject matter was presented as it allowed you to study each subject further, allowing for greater depth, clarity and knowledge.
Overall there are not many areas in which the course subject matter will not turn out to be invaluable, everything is covered to allow you to become successful within your own business or place of employment. A big thank you to Gavin Cole [tutor] and all at ACS. It was a pleasure to study with ACS, look forward to further study." Craig Ledbury, Australia - Turf Renovation & Repair course.
Who should do this Course?
- People working in the turf industry as greenkeepers, groundsmen or gardeners
- Turf. parks or gardens managers seeking who may have studied general horticulture but wish to deepen their understanding of turf
- Students of gardening wishing to enhance their skills and career prospects in lawn care or turf.
- Garden consultants (for professional development -to broaden the scope of services they can offer)
- Anyone selling turf supplies (in nurseries, turf seed companies, irrigation companies, turf equipment companies, etc)\
This is a unique course designed to make you think broader and more deeply about how problem turf can be repaired and improved. You learn through a very practical, experiential style of study (proven to be more effective in developing problem solving skills than the competency based style of training that is used in many other schools). If you want to grow your skills in this area of endevour; this could be an ideal course for you.
Duration: 100 hours
Content
The content of this course is directed to the diagnosis and treatment of problems in turf.
There are ten lessons are as follows:
1. Understanding Turf Deterioration
- Inspecting Deteriorated Turf
- Using Checklists
- Report Forms
- The Effect of Traffic on Turf; wear and tear, soil compaction, environment, varieties, traffic control
- Turf Quality
- Factors affecting visual quality
- Factors affecting functional quality
2. Repair and Renovation Equipment
- Scope of Equipment
- Machines that Penetrate the soil
- Aerators; hollow tine, solid tine, drills, scoop tines
- Air injectors
- Slicing machines
- Thatch Removal Scarifiers
- Rakes
- Sod Cutters
- Planters
- Sprayers
- Tool Maintenance
- Tractors; clutch, transmission, PTO, differential, etc
- Tractor Safety
- Calibrating Sprayers
3. Turf Cultivation Techniques
- What is Cultivation
- Soil Damage
- Thatch Build Up
- Salt or Toxin Accumalation
- Impermeable Surfaces
- Drainage and Aeration Management
- Tree Roots competing with Turf
- Coring
- Spiking
- Drilling
- Grooving
- Using Forks, Hoes, Rotaty Hoes
4. Health Improvement Techniques
- Minimising Problems
- Understanding what can go Wrong in Turf
- Assessing Problems
- Conducting an Inspection
- Tell Tale Symptoms
- Problems that are Difficult to Diagnose
- Common Turf Pests and Dealing with them
- Common Turf Diseases and Dealing with the,
- Irrigation and Soils
- Operation of Watering Systems
- Sprinkler Spacing
- Designing for Best Sprinler Performance
- Feeding Turf
5. Optimising Turf Usage
- Turf Use, type of use, quantity of use
- Turf Friendly Footwear
- Machinery Damage
- Minimising Damage
- Preparing fror Use
- Rolling
6. Replacing Damaged Turf
- Problems and Solutions
- Turf Repair
- Sportsgrounds
- Turf Wickets
- Planting Turf; topdressing, sprigging, sodding, pluggingstolonising, chitted seed
- Ploughs, Cultivators, Scarifiers
- Seeding
7. Renovation of Degraded Turf
- Introduction
- Golf Course Renovation, todressing, changing pins and tees, feeding, soil amelliorants, greens and tees
- Weed Control
- Insect and Disease Control
- Dealing with Snow Problems
8. Eradicating Turf Weeds
- Where and Why Weeds are a Problem in Turf
- Weeds in Seed Beds
- Weeds in New or Established Turf
- Where do Weeds Come From
- General Weed Control
- Ways to Control Weeds; suffocation, burning, cultivation, chaning pH, biological control, chemicals, etc
- Weed Dispersal Mechanisms
- Review of Common Turf Weeds
9. Treating Aeration and Drainage Problems
- Soil compaction, what it is, solutions, etc.
- Drainage
- Improving surface drainage
- Improving Water Infiltration
- Sub Surface Drains; layout, outlets, gradients, depth of drain, laing the drain, etc
- Soil Degradation; erosion, Loss of soil fertility, Salinity, Soil acidification, Build up of dangerous chemicals.
10. Managing a Turf Nursery.
- Types of Turf Nursery
- Growing a Sod Crop
Aims
- Compare characteristics of different turfs with reference to hardiness, pest and
- disease resistance, tolerance to play, suitability for different applications, etc
- Explain different turf problems (including; soil problems, pest & disease weed, environmental, etc)
- Explain the effect of various adverse situations on the physiology of turf plants.
- Carry out turf consultancy, conducting site inspections and giving appropriate recommendations.
- Develop solutions for the repair of damaged turf.
- Identify the cause of deteriorating condition in a selected turf
- Explain different repair techniques for control of problems identified.
- Compare different solutions for the problem identified.
- Develop turf renovation programs for different types of turf facilities
- Compare renovation programs for different turf facilities
- Identify when renovation becomes economically prudent for different facilities.
