# Timing for putting green 2022



## kbob11 (Oct 11, 2019)

Hi everyone,
I've been watching the Jimmy Lewis backyard putting green videos and thinking about doing the same next year. I was thinking a 500sqft rounded square. I am just wondering what would be the optimal timing to start this project. Should I wait until the August seeding window or give it a head start in the spring. I am not super familiar with bentgrass. 
The plan is to deeply sod cut, till, add sand / peat, compact, seed, peat, tenacity, starter, water.


----------



## TheSlowOne (Jun 10, 2020)

I'd skip the tenacity, it doesn't play well with bentgrass.


----------



## CarolinaCuttin (Sep 6, 2019)

No Tenacity, and fall seedings are always better. Use the summer to grade and fallow the soil with multiple cycles of deep irrigation and roundup. Selectively killing weeds in putting greens is not easy. Tilling brings up a bunch of weed seeds you'll want to eradicate before planting. Ideal seeding date is late August/early September for most of Mass. I would not use anything but sand to fill the sod cutting void and I wouldn't put peat on the seed. Keep it moist with 4-6 waterings per day and you'll probably be mowing in about 2 weeks.


----------



## DbShep (Aug 10, 2020)

I seeded a bent grass putting green last summer on May 20th in South Western Ontario. I work from home so I was able to manage the watering schedule and keep an eye on things but it worked well. I stripped sod and tilled sand in with the top bit of soil to keep some organic matter in the base, (think moisture retention), as recommended by a greenskeeper friend. My base is about 60% sand and 40% soil. I'm not sure how much space you have, but I wish I had built mine a bit bigger and it is about 1200sqft. I ran into some pest problems, (cut worm), in year one which slowed the fill in progress a bit but I was at 0.125" cut height by June of this year and got a lot of use out of it. Here is a photo below from the end of October this year and a link to a thread where I kept updates and tracked the progress of my build on golfwrx. Having your own golf green is a very satisfying thing but....it can be a big rabbit hole to go down and requires a lot of attention, (almost everything tries to kill grass when you maintain it at 1/8"), and time but in the end it is very rewarding. Good luck!

https://forums.golfwrx.com/topic/1714676-covid-practice-plans-green-building-please-tell-me-im-not-nuts/


----------



## Kallgren (Nov 10, 2018)

Make it larger if you can, I find that my mower is more difficult to maneuver in small area or tight corners Mine is about 1200 sq-ft and I wish it were bigger. You can do it in spring, that is how mine got started. it will be small enough that you can easily hand water it when it needs it. For pre-emergent, you can use Tupersan / Siduran which will not prevent the bentgrass from germinating (if you are near Hudson NH, I can set you up with some). Have some fungicies on hand to rotate if needed.

You will not need much grass seed,

Good luck.


----------



## thin_concrete (Sep 11, 2020)

DbShep said:


> I seeded a bent grass putting green last summer on May 20th in South Western Ontario. I work from home so I was able to manage the watering schedule and keep an eye on things but it worked well. I stripped sod and tilled sand in with the top bit of soil to keep some organic matter in the base, (think moisture retention), as recommended by a greenskeeper friend. My base is about 60% sand and 40% soil. I'm not sure how much space you have, but I wish I had built mine a bit bigger and it is about 1200sqft. I ran into some pest problems, (cut worm), in year one which slowed the fill in progress a bit but I was at 0.125" cut height by June of this year and got a lot of use out of it. Here is a photo below from the end of October this year and a link to a thread where I kept updates and tracked the progress of my build on golfwrx. Having your own golf green is a very satisfying thing but....it can be a big rabbit hole to go down and requires a lot of attention, (almost everything tries to kill grass when you maintain it at 1/8"), and time but in the end it is very rewarding. Good luck!
> 
> https://forums.golfwrx.com/topic/1714676-covid-practice-plans-green-building-please-tell-me-im-not-nuts/


Wow - I've spent the past few days skimming your GolfWRX thread and that's amazing. I'd been considering a green in my back yard next, albeit on a much smaller scale than yours, and now I'm both intimidated and excited! Don't know if I'll have the time to do it with a little one and my normal golfing schedule, but your thread is a true inspiration!


----------



## kbob11 (Oct 11, 2019)

Kallgren said:


> Make it larger if you can, I find that my mower is more difficult to maneuver in small area or tight corners Mine is about 1200 sq-ft and I wish it were bigger. You can do it in spring, that is how mine got started. it will be small enough that you can easily hand water it when it needs it. For pre-emergent, you can use Tupersan / Siduran which will not prevent the bentgrass from germinating (if you are near Hudson NH, I can set you up with some). Have some fungicies on hand to rotate if needed.
> 
> You will not need much grass seed,
> 
> Good luck.


Thanks for the advice! I am not too far away in Worcester, I may take you up on that offer. However with a baby on the way this spring, I may need to hold off until August.


----------



## DbShep (Aug 10, 2020)

thin_concrete said:


> DbShep said:
> 
> 
> > I seeded a bent grass putting green last summer on May 20th in South Western Ontario. I work from home so I was able to manage the watering schedule and keep an eye on things but it worked well. I stripped sod and tilled sand in with the top bit of soil to keep some organic matter in the base, (think moisture retention), as recommended by a greenskeeper friend. My base is about 60% sand and 40% soil. I'm not sure how much space you have, but I wish I had built mine a bit bigger and it is about 1200sqft. I ran into some pest problems, (cut worm), in year one which slowed the fill in progress a bit but I was at 0.125" cut height by June of this year and got a lot of use out of it. Here is a photo below from the end of October this year and a link to a thread where I kept updates and tracked the progress of my build on golfwrx. Having your own golf green is a very satisfying thing but....it can be a big rabbit hole to go down and requires a lot of attention, (almost everything tries to kill grass when you maintain it at 1/8"), and time but in the end it is very rewarding. Good luck!
> ...


Thanks. My green is currently under a bit of snow at the moment. I was looking at it the other day and I'm thinking about possibly expanding it in the spring to add a bit more depth. Possibly about another 1/3 bigger...we'll see what the spring brings.


----------

