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For a Performance Bowls Green, start a new tradition!

In less than a week my new book, Performance Bowling Greens will be launched on this site; 15th of February to be precise. In the lead up to the launch we have been looking into some of the obstacles that stand in the way of the average bowling club achieving the performance they desire from their green. Today I want to look at one of those obstacles more closely and that is the obstacle that Tradition puts in our way. The trouble is that many of these “traditions” are really not that old. One of the most damaging of these is the “tradition” of top-dressing our greens with high sand content dressings every year.

Now I should warn you at the outset that this is a long one and you might want to grab a coffee before we get started. The reason for the length of this article is that I don’t just want to discuss the process of top-dressing; I also want to show you how damaging it can be to your green and how damaging it can be to your wallet. To do that I am going to re-present to you 3 of the most clicked on articles we’ve ever published on this site (which shows, I think, that many clubs already understand the problem). So here we go:

At most bowling clubs the end of September is when thoughts will start to turn to the autumn renovation program or the “closing of the green” as many clubs call it. Bowling clubs throughout the UK will take delivery of between 3 and 10 tonnes of very expensive top-dressing compost, which will be applied to the green after hollow tining or some other aeration operation, in the belief that Read more

Water Surprise

A common question is “How much does it cost to water a bowling green for a season?”

Answer: a lot less for a performance bowling green than one in the throes of a traditional maintenance program.

It surprises me that clubs are surprised at the little surprises they get when the water bill comes in.

How can you be surprised that you used more water this year when you added 5 or 10 tonnes of sand to the green last autumn?

Many greens are already unmanageable in a normal (UK) summer due to excessive water requirements, localised dry patch and impermeable thatch; in a drought scenario its unlikely that there is any amount of water that would suffice.

This is because most of the water applied to poorly maintained greens is wasted to evaporation, run off and/or leaching.

Thick thatch holds water at the surface like a sponge, until of course LDP sets in, then it becomes akin to concrete and most water is lost to run off.

LDP causes soil particles to become hydrophobic, shedding any water that gets through the thatch to the macro-pores in the soil and away to the drains.

Performance greens can be watered cheaply and effectively because they only need enough to keep them alive during prolonged dry periods and can mostly take care of themselves in the normal course of a British Summer.

In many cases there is no need for anything more sophisticated than a large holding tank (the bigger the better) a simple pump and a 19mm hose to hand water hot spots on the green. This is much more effective than pop up sprinklers.

Water requirements and routines are given in more detail here.

My Bowls Green is a Disaster what can be done?

Get back to the basics of thatch and compaction control

Here we go with our next web search term that resulted in someone finding this site.

I picked this one today, because it sounds like this search was instigated by someone who really needs help quickly.

This kind of situation calls for a level headed approach. At times like this, when it appears that all is lost and you feel like digging up the green and starting again, it’s easy to Read more

Over Seeding of Bowls Greens

It’s important to create space for new seed

Over-seeding is a common element of autumn renovations. Costs for having the work done will be around £300-£500 depending on seed type, application rate and method used, but is this value for money?

In the vast majority of cases the answer is sadly…no! Why?

There are many reasons why over-seeding can turn into an expensive and in-effective luxury.  First of all it’s an easy sell for contractors; after all what’s not to like about it? It’s non-disruptive, relatively cheap and promises a surface free of bare patches and populated with fresh new vigorous grass next year.

Unfortunately it doesn’t work like that.

First of all the new seedlings are up against very stiff competition from the existing, mature sward. Sure, you will see an almost 100% success rate at around 14 days after seeding in a lot of cases and your contractor will be quick to point this out to you. However, at this point the seedlings are Read more