Author: John

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

November 7, 2025

How to painlessly transform greens from Poa annua to bent/fescue

Transitioning your green from Poa annua to bent/fescue is not only critical to achieving a Performance Bowling Green, but is actually a realistic goal. The spongy, soft turf associated with annual meadow grass is less than ideal for bowls. Common wisdom says that this can't be done without major disruption and that even after it is achieved it wont last. This article explains in detail how to undertake the transition of your green from Poa annua to bent/fescue turf and dispels the myths about stressing Poa. This is the way to change your green permanently and without fuss. It will also save your club money on maintenance, so what's not to like?

November 3, 2025

Fungi, the Bogeymen?

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.

November 2, 2025

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.

November 1, 2025

Downcast is back and improved

If a product’s real purpose is to kill earthworms then this is now illegal for turf application in the UK. It's always best to stay compliant with UK pesticide legislation, honest with your players and committee, and aligned with a longer-term view of soil health. That’s been the Bowls Central way since day one.
Downcast is a non-pesticidal liquid that deters surface worm activity and encourages it deeper in the profile. It doesn’t kill worms; it helps keep their good work (aeration, aggregation, nutrient cycling) where it benefits the soil without spoiling the playing surface.

October 21, 2025

Fix your bowling green step1.

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!