Master Greenkeeper John Quinn is the author of Performance Bowling Greens, and several other titles on Greenkeeping, Club and Business Management.
How to save bowls clubs and grow the game by changing the role of our bowls clubs in our communities. Although it seems futile to think we can make a drastic change to the way things are in many bowls clubs, I know that many clubs are overlooking or possibly ignoring golden opportunities on their doorstep.
Essential Greenkeeping tasks for November include aeration, disease prevention and keeping the surface clear of worm casts.
I once commented that there are only ever two real problems in bowling greenkeeping; compaction and thatch, with the rest of the myriad problems we come across being merely symptoms of these Big Two. Lately, I've revised that thinking, as the more I see of ill treated bowling greens the more I realise that, although they are important, even thatch and compaction are only symptoms too. The trouble we face in greenkeeping is that the industry wants us to treat symptoms. If we treated the root cause after all, we wouldn't need to buy half as much stuff! But before we get too carried away, let's have a recap on what bowls green compaction actually means.
Greenkeepers are bombarded with turf problems in the form of disease, weeds, pests and disorders. Now, with many pesticides being banned and unavailable it’s time for us to take back control of our turf. The good news is that it is actually easier without chemicals, because we are forced to learn more about the underlying causes of problems and become more familiar with the ecology of our greens.
