THE PROCESS OF PAINTING GREENS

Article by Tom Dickman, Burningtree Country Club, Decatur, AL

As fall approaches many bermudagrass greens superintendents will begin preparations to overseed or paint greens.  Luckily my predecessor, Steve Johnson, had already established the process of painting greens at Burningtree Country Club.  With minor adjustments, I have continued this process.

      If you are interested in painting greens the materials you will need are:  a sprayer, a spray hawk, greens paint, warm water, and about six clean buckets.  A sprayer dedicated solely to painting greens works best due to residue build up.  The sprayhawk works well because it tends to give a more precise spray pattern.  I use a rate of 5.5 gallons per 1000 sq. ft. of water to 12 oz. of paint.  I have also found it is best to have a high ratio of water to paint.  Warm water helps to aid in the mixing and thinning of paint, as well as keeping paint from gumming nozzles on the sprayer.

Mixing process:

1.       Lay out buckets, pouring small amounts of paint in each

2.       Add warm water to each and stir

3.       After paint has mixed well, pour into tank and repeat process until all paint per tank has been mixed

4.       Fill remainder of tank with warm water

5.       Have someone clean buckets well to rid any drying paint on buckets

Spraying Steps:

1.       Blow greens to clean all debris

2.       Do a clean up ring around the perimeter

3.       Spray in two directions

4.       Do another cleanup ring around the perimeter.  (This will give the cleanup an appearance of being darker however it will blend as it dries.)     

Clean up process:

1.       Using warm water run rinse aids through tank till sufficiently clean.  It is imortant to get all residue out of the tank, pump, and pressure regulator

2.       Place nozzles and filters in warm water and clean with a scrub brush

3.       Pull screen cap off tank and thoroughly scrub the interior of the tank