Heatwaves demand a change of priorities. Stop opening the surface, water deeply, hand-treat dry patches and let the clippings fly. Here’s how to keep your bowling green alive without making the underlying problems worse.
Author: John
Master Greenkeeper John Quinn is the author of Performance Bowling Greens, and several other titles on Greenkeeping, Club and Business Management.
Introducing Academy Lite
Not every bowling green needs another soil analysis simply because twelve months have passed. Some clubs are still working through the programme produced from their previous report. Others may be happy with the progress they are making and want to continue along the same path for another season. Some greenkeepers simply feel that annual testing is more frequent than they need.
Until now, these clubs faced a fairly blunt choice: renew their Academy Membership and receive another soil analysis, or leave the Academy and lose access to the advice, courses, discounts and support that helped them put the programme into practice.
So, in response to a common enquiry, I've introduced Academy Lite.
Fixing low pH without Lime
As standard soil analysis offerings are generally obsessed with chemistry, a very low pH is often interpreted as a chemical imbalance, which, of course, it is. The question of why those acid cations are dominant on the soil colloid, remains unaddressed in most cases. Instead it seems that many advisers are jumping straight to the temporary, artificial correction advice to add lime, and as we have seen, for fine turf, that can be dangerous advice.
Grass Seed Mixes; 80/20, 60/40, 40/60? What’s the Difference and Why does it Matter?
I am frequently asked about the difference between our 80/20, 60/40 and 40/60 Premium Fescue/Bent Grass Seed Mixes. On the surface, it might just look like a simple percentage change, but there’s quite a lot going on behind those numbers that can affect both the long-term performance of your green and the cost of the mix.
Greens are baking; we have to act now to avoid Autumn Renovation failures
Across the UK this summer, bowling greens are being baked in the intense summer heat. Weeks of hot, dry weather have left surfaces bare, cracked, and rock-hard. For many clubs, the underlying soil has crossed into a more serious condition — hydrophobicity — where the soil physically repels water, a phenomenon known as Localised Dry Patch.
If that’s where your green is today, you’ve got a problem.
You can simply can't wait until your usual mid-September renovation