Author: John

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

July 2, 2025

Focus on Dollar Spot

As climate change reshapes weather patterns, Dollar Spot—a turf disease once rare in the UK—has become an increasing concern for greenkeepers. This article explores how rising temperatures and humidity levels have created favourable conditions for the spread of Clarireedia jacksonii, the fungus behind Dollar Spot. Learn how to identify the disease's distinct symptoms and discover effective management strategies, including the use of Trichoderma fungi and integrated pest management practices, to combat this new challenge and help your green recover from an outbreak. Stay ahead of the curve and maintain your green's health by understanding the full impact of Dollar Spot and adapting your turf care approach.

June 23, 2025

Seaweed for Bowling Greens: Ancient Input, Modern Results

Beyond plant growth, seaweed feeds the microbial community that underpins a healthy green. Polysaccharides like laminarin and fucoidan stimulate beneficial soil microbes, improve aggregation, and enhance nutrient cycling.

June 22, 2025

The Real Cause of Fusarium—and Why Fungicides Always Fail

When fungicides are used repeatedly, they don't just suppress disease temporarily; they erode the very microbial networks that would naturally keep disease in check. This explains why many greens find themselves caught in a cycle of recurring outbreaks and escalating chemical inputs.

June 21, 2025

How to Control Thatch Naturally — and Turn It Into a Turf Asset

Introduction:
Mechanical thatch control is costly, disruptive, and often short-lived. What if you could eliminate the problem biologically — and improve turf performance at the same time?

The BioActive Solution
By combining BioActive Thatch Reduce with BioActive Molturf, you unlock a powerful natural process:

Thatch is broken down by specialist microbes and enzymes.
Those breakdown products are converted into nutrients for the turf.
Soil biology is stimulated, not sterilised.

The Result?
✔ Less thatch
✔ Healthier soil
✔ Stronger turf
✔ Better surface performance

Spray It, Don’t Scarify It
Both products are easily mixed and sprayed – no mechanical disruption, no follow-up repair, and no downtime.

And at just £40 per green per application (for Bowls Central Academy Members), this is the most cost-effective, long-term thatch control method available today.

📦 Try them now:

June 20, 2025

Mycorrhizal fungi and turf health, better bowling greens rely on us understanding this.

Mycorrhizal fungi and turf health go hand in hand. The symbiotic relationships that exist between our turf grass plants and soil fungi are critical to producing a high performance, perennial grass dominated sward. Here we look at the benefits of mycorrhizal relationships in turf and the techniques greenkeepers can employ to encourage them.