Bowls green performance and organic matter go hand in hand. In this article we continue to test our hypothesis about the effect Organic Matter has to bowls green surface performance. John compares the different kinds of organic matter in greens and shows how we can measure these to direct us to a better maintenance regime that focusses on performance and produces healthier greens and greens that are more economical to maintain.
Each individual grass plant releases sugars through its roots to attract beneficial microbes. In return, those microbes mine nutrients from the soil, cycle organic matter, suppress disease, and improve soil structure. This is so important to the health of plants that they give up around 50% of the sugar they produce during photosynthesis as root exudates.
Recuperative potential is, in simple terms, the green’s ability to recover from stress, wear, disturbance or damage. It is the green eco-system’s capacity to bounce back. The higher the recuperative potential, the more confidently the green can cope with maintenance operations, play, environmental stress and general pressure. The lower it is, the more likely it is that even sensible work can push the turf backwards rather than forwards.
Today, we will look at two mechanisms of turfgrass physiology that are active in our grass plants and soil and that follow this tendency towards equilibrium, without which our turf wouldn't be able to grow and thrive.
Nitrogen is essential to turfgrass performance—it drives growth, colour, and density. But too much or too little, applied at the wrong time or in the wrong form, can do more harm than good. Spikes of growth followed by periods of stress are all too common with traditional nitrogen sources, especially on fine turf where consistency is king.
