I was thinking about our weather this winter and the difficulty in moving forward with the planning  of our seasonal maintenance. Things like choosing fertilizers, soil amendments, seeding and pesticide applications, and it has been difficult. The reason for my trepidation is largely due to the weather and the lack of growing conditions.

A general rule of thumb is .... if the sum of high and low temperatures is greater than 100 then you will have growth. If you sum up the dates below, there are 13 days over 100. A lack of moisture allows the temperature to drop quickly at night and the precipitation recorded below shows us at about 4.8 inches below normal for the month of February. Having so little precipitation and the cold temperatures is not unheard of here, but it is unusual.

Overall, I think the course is playing well, but it sure has been difficult to plan what may be 'normal'. What has been determined for spring maintenance is that greens and tees will be aerated with half in tines and the tees will be verticut with the graden behind the aerification. Fairways will be spiked and seeded and then topdressed and fertilized. Roughs will be aerated and fertilized and seeded in select areas. Our herbicide applications will be slightly delayed, and conditions evaluated daily for growth of bermuda and crab grass, and any type of insect development.

Right Now Today Hourly Tomorrow Weekend 5 day 10 day Monthly Map
Monthly Planner for Los Gatos, CA (95030) [ English | Metric ] February Next Month Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri   1 OBSERVED Hi  67°F Lo  40°F Precip (in) 0in. Sat   2 OBSERVED Hi  56°F Lo  46°F Precip (in) 0in.   3 OBSERVED Hi  57°F Lo  45°F Precip (in) 0in.   4 OBSERVED Hi  56°F Lo  39°F Precip (in) 0in.   5 OBSERVED Hi  54°F Lo  45°F Precip (in) 0in.   6 OBSERVED Hi  57°F Lo  38°F Precip (in) 0in.   7 OBSERVED Hi  55°F Lo  36°F Precip (in) 0.05in.   8 OBSERVED Hi  52°F Lo  40°F Precip (in) 0.02in.   9 OBSERVED Hi  56°F Lo  34°F Precip (in) 0in.   10 OBSERVED Hi  59°F Lo  34°F Precip (in) 0in.   11 OBSERVED Hi  62°F Lo  36°F Precip (in) 0in.   12 OBSERVED Hi  61°F Lo  38°F Precip (in) 0in.   13 OBSERVED Hi  64°F Lo  39°F Precip (in) 0in.   14 OBSERVED Hi  69°F Lo  41°F Precip (in) 0in.   15 OBSERVED Hi  72°F Lo  44°F Precip (in) 0in.   16 OBSERVED Hi  67°F Lo  44°F Precip (in) 0in.   17 OBSERVED Hi  62°F Lo  44°F Precip (in) 0in.   18 OBSERVED Hi  57°F Lo  41°F Precip (in) 0in.   19 OBSERVED Hi  51°F Lo  42°F Precip (in) 0.21in.   20 OBSERVED Hi  59°F Lo  37°F Precip (in) 0in.   21 OBSERVED Hi  58°F Lo  37°F Precip (in) 0in.   22 OBSERVED Hi  62°F Lo  37°F Precip (in) 0in.   23 OBSERVED Hi  57°F Lo  46°F Precip (in) 0in.   24 OBSERVED Hi  61°F Lo  39°F Precip (in) 0in.   25 OBSERVED Hi  60°F Lo  36°F Precip (in) 0in.   26 OBSERVED Hi  65°F Lo  39°F Precip (in) 0in.   27 OBSERVED Hi  67°F Lo  39°F Precip (in) 0in.   28 OBSERVED Hi  65°F Lo  44°F Precip (in) 0in. FORECAST: Updated Mar 1 10:08 a.m. PT Details Video Text Averages Month-to-Date Totals   Temperatures   Precipitation 80°F Record High Highest so far 72°F  Lowest 34°F  so far  62°F Avg. High  41°F Avg. Low 21°F Record Low Month to Date0.28 in.   Average5.06 in.

 Kevin