surfaces before the
first spring mowing to minimize the potential of scalping. Similarly, when heavy
rains are followed by hot humid weather, thatch can swell, creating puffy turf
that is prone to scalping. Under these climatic conditions, rolling before
mowing can decrease the potential of scalping.

9.
Seed bed preparation

Rolling is important during the establishment of turfgrass
sites for several reasons. First of all, on high-value areas, it is imperative
to roll the site multiple times before seeding to compress the root zone and
reduce or eliminate soil settling during or following establishment. Second,
numerous turfgrass books rightfully preach the importance of having good
seed-to-soil contact during the establishment of turfgrass sites, and the best
way to have good seed-to-soil contact is to roll the site immediately after
seeding. Additionally, in a putting green establishment study performed at
Michigan State University, plotswith the True-Surface vibratory roller.

The day after topdressing, the plots were mowed with a
walk-behind mower, the debris was collected into buckets and put into paper bags
that were placed into an oven at 104 F to boil off water. Then the debris was
poured into a bucket of water, in which the sand sank while the clippings
floated. Clippings were collected with a net and the sand was poured onto a
very fine screen, returned to the oven and weighed. The result was
approximately 40 percent less topdressing sand was collected in the buckets when
plots were rolled after brushing (Figure 2). These plots also had a faster
green speed several days after topdressing and decreased organic matter content
at the end of the season.

John Sorochan, Ph.D., performed a similar study on
bermudagrass greens at the University