With the new bowling season bearing down on us fast, I’ve received a good few emails and calls asking me whether or not it’s worth trying to start the Performance Greenkeeping Program from scratch so close to the new season?

Several of these contacts had the feeling that there was no point starting at this late stage and that it might be better to wait until the autumn, but all that would guarantee is yet another season of conventional greenkeeping and mediocre green performance.

The truth is that of course it would be great if every club could get in touch well in advance of the season opening day and request a full soil analysis and greenkeeping plan to work from, but all is not lost if you haven’t done that yet and there is a way you can usefully get started now.

Start Now

If you’ve been a reader of Bowls Central and/or Performance Bowling Greens for any length of time, you will know that the conditions that make greens perform badly, on the whole originate from decades of conventional greenkeeping.

This has featured excessive use of high salt mineral fertilisers, lawn sand, sulphates of iron and ammonia and in many cases the over use of sand top-dressings. To top it off, there has been a frequent need for fungicides to combat outbreaks of turf disease.

All of these problems combine to form what I’ve termed the Circle of Decline.

Therefore changing this condition around is the answer and you can do that by starting to liven up your soil’s biology now.

Essential Greenkeeping tasks for April include Scarification, moss control, microbe boosting, disease prevention and keeping the surface clear of worm casts. Now is the time to make soil nutrient balance corrections and to get some starter fertiliser and bio-stimulants on to boost soil microbial activity and get the grass growing well. Take advantage of my soil analysis service for a positive start to the season with a done for you greenkeeping schedule.

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