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email: info@bowls-central.co.uk
John Quinn
Drumpark
Crieff
PH7 3PE
Scotland
Comments
Contact — 16 Comments
Hi John,
Just a line or two to thank you for some wonderful advice on bowling greens.I have recently been appointed greenkeeper at Sutton Coldfield Conservative Club.I have 38 years experience of golf greenkeeping but your advice has been invaluable.When i took over,the green was in a pretty pathetic state.But,with lots of work and manhours,it is turning around pretty well.It is good to know that there are people around that can offer their advice for free and are willing to help in this wonderful profession.I have a question for you:-What can i do about squirrels/cats/rabbits digging up my green?i repair their scrapes twice a week,add animal repellent to each repair,but they just return and dig somewhere else.Obviously,we can’t afford to spray the whole green(1800 Sq metres) so do you have any ideas? Thanks once again for all you do for us novice bowling green guys.
Best regards,
Jim.
Thanks for your comment. I’ll start off with the old joke about a small piece of lead behind the ear for the animal pests, but quickly retract that as an animal lover.
Its great to hear you are making progress with the green and that you bring a lot of golf course maintenance experience to the table as I do. It would be good to hear your views on the differences between the two.
Meantime I have had a good deal of success in keeping rabbits off greens by building a simple sectional wooden fence that can be removed when required using 2×2 wood and rabbit netting; and that is on greens where the rabbit invasion is severe. The various repellents based on cod liver oil and garlic are never enough when confronted with a large rabbit population. I would imagine that rabbits are the worst of the animal problems you have, although I have another reader who has badgers and they are as damaging as pigs at times!
Cats, I am sure are probably attracted by the rabbits. I live in the wilds of Perthshire and our cats are particularly fond of young rabbits. Squirrels are a problem if you leave scraps of food or rubbish in bins overnight usually.
Hi John, A ‘fact sheet’ on the subject of over-seeding would be really interesting. What seed mix you would recommend, what factors determine this, and any tips on when and how to over-seed to gain the best results. Thanks.
Leading on from your Autumn Renovation fact sheet, could you give more details on the subject of hollow tining? When trying to reduce severe thatch would it be okay to do this process twice? or would that be too extreme? Would it be advisable to leave the holes left by hollow tining unfilled…? or to use an appropriate top dressing? would they ‘heal’ in time for the beginning of next season if they were left? Also would you have any advise on how to ‘re-use the cores’ on areas that have been damaged or where straight builders sand has been used in the past (obviously this would be removed 1st) ? Are there any ways one could add nutrients to the cores to produce a useful resource… perhaps for filling the core holes the following year? So many clubs are on a limited budget…. re-cycling any resource would be an asset. Thanks.
I’m going to move this over to the Mastermind forum as its quite involved and it would also give other members a chance to contribute to the conversation. So lets continue the conversation there.
Between 5.5 and 6.5 is ideal as this is the band in which most nutrients are available to plants.
Keeping on top of aeration and minimising thatch will help to keep the soil sweet. Most problems we encounter on greens are accompanied by or contributed to by low pH.
Hi John.
Tried to login using my existing user name & password but couldn’t gain access, so i tried to register, which i couldn’t as it stated e-mail address already in use.
Thanks
Eric
Hi John,
Just a line or two to thank you for some wonderful advice on bowling greens.I have recently been appointed greenkeeper at Sutton Coldfield Conservative Club.I have 38 years experience of golf greenkeeping but your advice has been invaluable.When i took over,the green was in a pretty pathetic state.But,with lots of work and manhours,it is turning around pretty well.It is good to know that there are people around that can offer their advice for free and are willing to help in this wonderful profession.I have a question for you:-What can i do about squirrels/cats/rabbits digging up my green?i repair their scrapes twice a week,add animal repellent to each repair,but they just return and dig somewhere else.Obviously,we can’t afford to spray the whole green(1800 Sq metres) so do you have any ideas? Thanks once again for all you do for us novice bowling green guys.
Best regards,
Jim.
Jim
Thanks for your comment. I’ll start off with the old joke about a small piece of lead behind the ear for the animal pests, but quickly retract that as an animal lover.
Its great to hear you are making progress with the green and that you bring a lot of golf course maintenance experience to the table as I do. It would be good to hear your views on the differences between the two.
Meantime I have had a good deal of success in keeping rabbits off greens by building a simple sectional wooden fence that can be removed when required using 2×2 wood and rabbit netting; and that is on greens where the rabbit invasion is severe. The various repellents based on cod liver oil and garlic are never enough when confronted with a large rabbit population. I would imagine that rabbits are the worst of the animal problems you have, although I have another reader who has badgers and they are as damaging as pigs at times!
Cats, I am sure are probably attracted by the rabbits. I live in the wilds of Perthshire and our cats are particularly fond of young rabbits. Squirrels are a problem if you leave scraps of food or rubbish in bins overnight usually.
Let me know how you get on with the rabbits.
Regards
John
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Hi John, A ‘fact sheet’ on the subject of over-seeding would be really interesting. What seed mix you would recommend, what factors determine this, and any tips on when and how to over-seed to gain the best results. Thanks.
Good point.
There are a few key things to keep in mind with over-seeding.
First one is if you already have an excessive thatch layer…keep your money in your pocket!
I will make this the next priority for the members fact sheet collection.
Thanks
John
Leading on from your Autumn Renovation fact sheet, could you give more details on the subject of hollow tining? When trying to reduce severe thatch would it be okay to do this process twice? or would that be too extreme? Would it be advisable to leave the holes left by hollow tining unfilled…? or to use an appropriate top dressing? would they ‘heal’ in time for the beginning of next season if they were left? Also would you have any advise on how to ‘re-use the cores’ on areas that have been damaged or where straight builders sand has been used in the past (obviously this would be removed 1st) ? Are there any ways one could add nutrients to the cores to produce a useful resource… perhaps for filling the core holes the following year? So many clubs are on a limited budget…. re-cycling any resource would be an asset. Thanks.
Robert
I’m going to move this over to the Mastermind forum as its quite involved and it would also give other members a chance to contribute to the conversation. So lets continue the conversation there.
Regards
John
am having a problem accessing private messages….. I’m logged in but can’t find out how to gain access….any ideas?
Hi Robert
I’ve emailed you about this.
Cheers
John
John,
One page factsheets won’t download!
“Download file cannot be opened. Please let us know. Thank you!”
Cheers,
Ted.
Hi Ted
Thanks for letting me know about this; its all fixed now.
Apologies for the inconvenience.
Cheers
John
John,
Sorry, still can’t download ‘Over seeding’ from the one page factsheets.
Most of them are OK.
Cheers,
Ted.
Thanks Ted
I think that one is fixed now too.
Cheers
John
Hi John,
What would you say was the ideal pH for bowling greens? and how would we coax them towards this?
Hi Robert
Sorry this one slipped my notice.
Between 5.5 and 6.5 is ideal as this is the band in which most nutrients are available to plants.
Keeping on top of aeration and minimising thatch will help to keep the soil sweet. Most problems we encounter on greens are accompanied by or contributed to by low pH.
John
Hi John.
Tried to login using my existing user name & password but couldn’t gain access, so i tried to register, which i couldn’t as it stated e-mail address already in use.
Thanks
Eric