Well, let's see here. A few good points were brought up. The rules I go by are these. Why do we need a soil composition expert ?! First, a man without a pocket knife in this business is useless. If my asst. comes to work without his I send him home. That and / or a soil probe are essential. If you can't tell what type of soils you have by visual investigation then you're in trouble. Secondly, watch each zone of sprinklers run as we all know every zone on every system is different due to pressure, output, etc. Thirdly, if a turf area needs "X" amount of water per day [say for example 20 minutes total on a rotary zone] Is it better to distribute 20 minutes all at once or divide it into one twelve minute [heavy] and two fours [lighter] as better used when then plant and soils can utilize it better [hence, more available] ??
Granted, this next statement may be my own BUT, I've learned and read and know how to read all the numbers and data too. You know, precip rates at certain psi's and gpm, etc. and from a soils standpoint a loamy sand verses a sandy loam on a soil report and that's all great and fine but there's only one thing I trust that makes me sleep easy at night and that is HANDS - ON AND VISUAL BABYSITTING.
Let's see here, you're a supt. at a golf course with USGA spec built greens. You know all the information available, soil types, perc. rates, drainage gpm and all that other stuff. You have an irrigation system of the highest and most modern caliber wih moisture sensors, weather barometers and all that crap, okay ? Now let me ask you this, would you sleep easy at night relying on all this crap that is supposed to jive and all the numbers look good and perfect, etc. or would you go out and visually inspect your greens regularly and make adjustments based upon conditions and what you see ???? Hey Mr. Supt. [says the greens chairman] why are all of our greens brown ? What are you going to say ? Well sir, the $ 300,000.00 worth of high tech irrigation equipment you gave me says everything's fine ?! And the guy at the USGA says the greens were built perfectly to spec ?!
Grass will always tell you more than any test results. Granted when it comes to fertility levels, etc. I do lean more towards a soil test's recommendation but if it says that a pound of this or that is needed I think I would start off with a 1/4 or 1/3 lb. and go from there. Better safe than sorry. I don't run out and recommend soil test reports for every situation though. Through digging and probing on my own first usually tells me what is required.
As for water bills I don't care what they are. My first priority is the turf's condition as THAT is MY job.
As for short roots in crap soils without deep and regular aeration which is NOT done in the average lawn and landscape industry you are never going to achieve "deep" rooting so you mainly manage what you have with the best of circumstances. Also, you forgot to mention regular topdressing with a proper [desired] soils mix over the course of a few years to incorporate better perc. rates, aeration and capillary action which is also never done in the L & L industry.
One more thing, proper aeration is not achieved with a walk or pull behind "spoon type" aerifier especially in the average homeowner or commercial lawn unless you're planning on making a war zone. Most companies just run over the lawn once and leave the plugs sitting on the ground. What the hell good is this ? Besides, they don't penetrate enough [deeply] to matter anyway. One to 2 inches depth is not aerifying when you already have one to two inches of roots [shallow] anyway. What is that helping ? Answer, nothing.
? I'm not a full time lawn guy but I do work with them. Honestly most of my professional carreer has been working as an arborist but I find that allowing 2-3 days in between irrigations produces a high quality and durable turf with a minimum of weed and disease problems. For example, if the lawn is transpiring 1" of water per week apply 1/2" per cycle 3-4 days apart. That also provides good compatibility between the lawn and other landscape plants like trees that are susceptible to root rot, not to mention keeping the water bill to a minimum.
