Over the course of many years of providing the Bowls Central Soil Analysis service and based on the thousands of reports I’ve written, certain trends have been revealed, and these relate very closely to a group of problems I have termed collectively as The Circle of Decline in fine turf. Perhaps the most annoying and frustrating aspect is that almost all of these issues relate to inappropriate green maintenance carried on over a period now extending to several decades.

The main trends I’ve found are as follows:

1. Excessive sand in the rootzone, with a very high proportion of tests showing sand in excess of 90% by volume of the soil tested.
2. Low pH, often accompanied by excessive thatch build up due to compromised soil biology i.e. lifeless soil
3. Low Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), showing that the soil is not capable in its current state of providing sufficient nutrition to the turf
4. Low Organic Matter (OM), often in the 1 to 3% range, rendering the soil poor at providing nutrients and moisture and in sustaining soil microbial activity
5. A range of related chemical imbalances including low Calcium, high Iron, high Sulphate, high Phosphorous and high Electrical Conductivity, many of which are signs of high mineral salt levels and poor microbial populations in the soil

These conditions exhibited in greens with test results like these are invariably Circle of Decline issues such as Poa annua dominance of the sward, excessive thatch, localised dry patch (LDP), frequent disease outbreaks, surface anomalies including unacceptable (and randomly variable) green speed, smoothness and trueness, flooding after rain and general maintenance difficulties.

This Pack of materials will help you carry out a thorough Autumn Renovation Programme on your green and is most suited to greens that exhibit problems including excessive sand content of the rootzone, LDP, low organic matter, thatch, low calcium content, all of which are common traits in greens where the rootzone has become excessively sandy.

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