ClipVol

Measuring the growth rate by clipping volume. Really.

My books about greenkeeping, turfgrass science, clipping volume, and MLSN.

Grass clippings, fresh, weigh from 300 to 350 g per liter in a clipping volume bucket. Sand, dry, weighs about 1.6 kg per liter in a clipping volume bucket.

One of the reasons I didn’t pay attention to clipping volume numbers in my youth was my failure to realize that the volume of clippings is related to the dry weight of clippings.

We’ve been working on this one for a long time. We’ve had the turfgrass speedometer (or speedo), which can also be called the growth ratio. Both of those names have some problems.

One of the many ways to learn is through conversations with industry veterans. Their wisdom about how turf is managed now, and how it was managed in the past, can be invaluable.

You may be familiar with the grammar of greenkeeping. That’s what I call the approach to turfgrass maintenance that focuses on growth rate. As I wrote in the preface to the book with that title:

I’ve been looking at some growth ratio data, and I’ll share a few ideas here. Jason Haines introduced this as the turfgrass speedo, and I think that’s a good name for it.

I’ve taught a seminar that goes through 10 things I’ve learned about clipping volume. One of those things is this: keeping track of the total quantity of clippings year to date and as annual totals is useful.

Slides You can download the slides here: Systematic improvement of golf course conditions, 4.2 MB PDF file Systematic improvement notes With routine measurement of surface conditions, it’s possible to adjust the work in a systematic way to make the conditions better, for more days in the year, than I once thought possible.