Evergreen Turf ’s entire operation is built for efficient harvesting and shipping.
Each grass targets specific markets. Midiron goes to homeowners and commercial landscape contractors. It’s currently their most popular grass for those wanting lower maintenance, though the blade is larger, it’s a nice green, a slow grower that doesn’t thatch and can be overseeded. Tifway 419 and Tifgreen are used primarily for golf courses and sports fields. Palmetto St. Augustine is a specialty grass for semi-shade areas. TifGrand is used for semi-shade areas and for some high-end golf courses. TifTuf is a relatively new grass for them and is targeted to golf courses and some residential properties where low water use is a priority. Te tall fescues are cool-season grasses that are used at high- altitude areas above 3,000 feet and in some shade situations.
Evergreen Turf also does custom growing for customers, such as the sand-based sports fields for the Arizona Cardinals. And they are part of the Harmony Outdoor Brands program, supplying grasses directly to retail outlets.
Customer demands dictate the balance of Evergreen Turf ’s inventory. Fox says, “We try to be on the cutting edge, growing the newer cultivars. But we also need to do our own onsite testing to see what performs well in our growing conditions. It’s a balancing act determining how much production acreage to allocate for each of our grasses. Tat’s why we’re working with so many varieties. We’re pleased to be selling out almost all of them.”
Summer Weather Challenges Summer high temperatures can reach 120 degrees F., with normal highs ranging between 110 to 115 degrees, with humidity levels around seven percent. Tere are always a few summer nights that never get below 90 degrees F.
Te region gets little rainfall most of the year. Ten the monsoon season hits in July and August and the humidity levels hover between 20 and 30 percent. “It’s hard to describe monsoon rains to those who haven’t experienced them,” says Fox. “We could get one-half-inch to one- inch of rain in 30 minutes, up to two-inches of rain in 15 minutes. It comes down so fast and furious, it’s impossible to store it all. Te monsoon winds can be even more extreme than the rains. Tey’ll sometimes hit 90 to 100 miles-per-hour, which can tip over a center pivot.”
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Te warm-season grasses thrive in those summer temperatures, so it’s when they grow the fastest. It’s also the hardest season physically for the mowing and harvesting crews. Both the Arizona farms are fairly flat and there aren’t a lot of trees. Fox says, “One of the ongoing hazards on the farms is dust. It’s produced by a combination of the wind and operation of our equipment—mowers, harvesters, forklifts and trucks.”
QuadLifts match up to the high-volume harvesters.
Irrigation Details Tere are no wells on the farm. All the water is brought in through a manmade 330-mile canal system. Fox says, “One of the great things about Arizona is the forward thinking of our forefathers. Tey worked with the Federal government to develop a lake and reservoir system to collect surplus water from the Colorado River in northwest Arizona and the canal system that delivers that surplus water. So we don’t have to rely on groundwater and deplete our resources. It was a huge undertaking with construction that began back in 1973. Te first dams, however, were built in 1903, before Arizona was even a state!”
Tat water quality is fair; high in salt and pH, but better than what many sod producers must work with, according to Fox. “We adjust our maintenance program to compensate.”
TPI Turf News January/February 2018
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