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Author: John

Master Greenkeeper John Quinn is the author of Performance Bowling Greens, and several other titles on Greenkeeping, Club and Business Management.

Trace Elements

Key Elements for Success with Natural Greenkeeping

As greenkeepers, we understand the importance of maintaining a healthy, vibrant and resilient green. In over 40 years of greenkeeping, however, I've noticed that a lot of what passes for greenkeeping has actually been very damaging to our soils, making it increasingly difficult to produce a good surface, reliably and economically.

A lot of greens are now difficult to maintain, exhibiting a host of common problems such as Localised Dry Patch, Moss Infestation, Excess Thatch, Disease, Thinning Grass Cover, Puddling, Bumps, Bad Runs and Dips

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Soil Chemistry

New lesson: An Introduction to Soil Chemistry added to Academy

The Introduction to Soils course in the Bowls Central Academy has a new unit called An Introduction to Soil Chemistry
The unit introduces the complex science of soil chemistry in an easy to understand format. Explore this fascinating subject now and get a better understanding of what you can do to maximise turf health and green performance.
The Unit is available now in the Academy.
Members will find it under the Course link in the My Account area.

New lesson on Sand and it’s role in the Bowling Green Rootzone added to Academy

The Introduction to Soils course in the Bowls Central Academy has a new unit called Sand and its role in the Bowling Green Rootzone
The unit explains the influence of sand in the rootzone and how top-dressings influence the physical performance of the soil .
Explore this fascinating subject now and get a better understanding of what you can do to maximise turf health and green performance.The Unit is available now in the Academy.
Members will find it under the Course link in the My Account area.

Sweat the small stuff, for a high performance bowling  green this year

If your green maintenance budget was cut in half this year what would you do? 

Most clubs when faced with cuts to the greenkeeping budget, will try at all costs to keep the most important work in the plan. Unfortunately, important frequently gets confused with dramatic, which means that the big expense of top-dressing in the spring and autumn usually stays in the plan and I wish it didn’t for all the reasons I’ve explained over many articles.

Meantime, the work deemed less important and which of course is less dramatic is often sidelined or dropped as a result of a fear of what might go wrong if the big, sexy stuff is missed. These big jobs “must be doing a lot of good”, or so the thinking goes, because they’re so expensive and disruptive?

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