Winter Greenkeeping Strategies have to a large extent been based on preventative fungicide, putting the green to bed and hoping for the best. This overlooks the huge opportunity greenkeepers have to make a real difference through applying some sound Winter Greenkeeping Strategies right through the closed months.
I genuinely believe that it's possible to come up with a formula to fix your bowling green, regardless of it's current condition. This is due to one over-riding fact that I've discovered after looking at literally hundreds of greens. They are all at some stage of what I've termed the Circle of Decline. The critical factor in making this possible is simple. You must know what you are dealing with and there is no way to find that out without carrying out some hand dirtying investigative work. So let's get dirty!
Each individual grass plant releases sugars through its roots to attract beneficial microbes. In return, those microbes mine nutrients from the soil, cycle organic matter, suppress disease, and improve soil structure. This is so important to the health of plants that they give up around 50% of the sugar they produce during photosynthesis as root exudates.
The highly sandy nature of many bowling greens and the historical routine use of fungicides of course means that the fungal community is at best compromised. However, we can encourage they're development by providing bio-stimulants. These are typically long-chain sugars such as—kelp, humic acid, and molasses derived bio-stimulant materials. In fact, trials have shown that spraying Trichoderma fungi (a natural Fusarium suppressor) with 20 litres of a biostimulant such as Molturf per hectare extended its protective activity for over five weeks. Even at lower rates, molasses is a highly effective and underutilised biostimulant.
Over the last few decades, routine applications of fungicides, high-salt synthetic fertilisers and ever-increasing topdressings of sand have left many UK greens biologically bankrupt. I see it time and again in soil analysis reports: textural classification coming back as just “Sand”. Very little in the way of silt or clay and sparse organic matter. No biological cushion.
