Certificate of Turf Care

Unit 1 – Introduction – Turf Varieties

• The benefits of turf
• History of turf
• List of turf varieties
• Lawn mixes
• What to grow where
• Important lesson notes
• Turf varieties reports
• How to lay out your turf variety report

Unit 2 – Turf Grass Physiology

• How to grow turf
• Grasses
• Structure (Morphology) of a Typical Grass
• Flowers
• Spotting Other Characteristics
• Turf grass roots
• Shoot development
• Root: Shoot Ratio
• Recuperative Potential
• Ways to identify grasses
• Identification Key to selected Common Turf Grasses
• Identifying tips
• Fescue
• Bent Grass
• Bluegrass
• Other grasses
• Description of major warm season lawn grasses
• Couch
• Carpet grasses
• Paspalums
• Grass diagrams

Unit 3 – Turf Establishment

• Establishing turf grasses
• Soil preparation
• Seeding
• Sodding/instant turf
• Drainage
• Chitted seed
• Work scheduling
• Work sheet – planning a work schedule
• Project component estimate form
• Costing guide
• Materials and equipment costs
• Insurance costs and wages
• Administration costs
• Hourly rate
• Profit

Unit 4 – Soils

• Understanding soil
• Soil texture
• Soil blends
• Soil structure
• Soil pH
• Improving soils
• Improving fertility
• Types of areas do you need to buy in soil
• What type of soil do you need?
• Calculating soil quantities
• Cation exchange capacity
• Plant nutrition
• The nutrient elements
• The macronutrients
• The micronutrients
• Fertilising turf
• Drainage
• Improving soil permeability during garden construction
• Improving surface drainage after construction
• Layout of drains
• Types of drains

Unit 5 – Turf Weed Problems

• Weed management
• How are weeds spread?
• Preventing dispersal
• Non–chemical control methods
• Herbicide use in turf
• Spraying at the recommended concentration
• Always read the label!
• How poisonous is it?
• Examples of commercial formulations
• Domestic range of herbicides

Unit 6 – Turf Pests and Diseases

• Chemical control
• Turf health problems
• Non-parasitic problems in turf
• Fungi
• Turf pests
• A review of chemicals – pesticides
• Fungicides
• Spray equipment
• Sprayer maintenance and cleaning
• Domestic lawn care program
• Common environmental problems in turf

Unit 7 – Turf Maintenance Techniques

• Mowing turf
• Turf mowers
• Mowing guidelines
• Length of cut
• Height guidelines:
• Getting a clean cut
• To catch or not to catch
• Direction of cut or pattern of cutting
• What about cutting steep slopes?
• What to do with lawn clippings?
• After mowing care
• Mower safety
• What to wear
• Other safety considerations
• Other turf maintenance techniques
• Golden rules of laying instant turf

Unit 8 – Irrigation – An Overview

• Water and plant growth
• Water loss from soils
• Improving water retention
• The movement of soil water
• Types of soil water
• Field capacity
• Estimating water needs of turf
• Cool climate grasses
• Irrigating turf
• When to irrigate
• Maintaining appropriate water levels
• Rate of watering
• Period of watering
• Cyclic watering
• Pulse watering
• Irrigation systems
• Conventional sprinkler systems
• Methods of driving rotating head sprinklers
• Irrigation system design considerations
• Sprinkler spacing
• Sprinkler performance in irrigation system designs
• Electrical considerations
• Electric automatic systems

Unit 9 – Playing Fields and Bowling Greens

• Gradients and dimensions for sporting facilities
• Dimensions for athletics fields
• Dimensions for various sporting fields
• Gradients of playing fields
• Construction procedure for a playing field
• Sand-based technology
• General specifications for golf course preparation
• Course preparation for the Australian open golf championship
• Cricket wicket table construction
• Laying a turf wicket
• Maintenance and repair of turf wickets
• Marking a wicket
• Treatment after play

Unit 10 – Managing Established Turf

• Golf course care and maintenance
• Mowing
• Watering
• Drainage
• Renovation
• Top dressing
• Changing pins and tee markers
• Fertiliser requirements
• Quick guide for a fertiliser program
• Fertilising greens and tees
• Weeds and pest and disease control

Unit 11 – Establishing Ornamental Turf

• Ornamental turf
• Shade and establishment
• Planning for the environment with golf courses
• Environmental assessment
• An environmental audit
• Inclusions for an environmental audit