Search for green speed - 73 results found

May 26, 2023

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?

April 18, 2023

Easily find out if you are spending too much on greenkeeping

Autumn Bowling Green Maintenance Question Time

Order this simple test to find out if your green is beyond Peak Sand. This is my description for a green that is now lacking in life due to years of excessive sand top-dressings. It's a cutting edge, but very simple Soil Analysis specifically designed for bowling club greenkeepers who feel they could be doing better, but something unknown is holding their green back. With our unique service, you can now identify the root cause of your greenkeeping problems and receive a tailored plan to improve your green's health and performance.

February 22, 2023

Dealing with fairy ring on the Bowling Green

You might read about the possibility of dealing with fairy ring by using fungicides, or even be advised to use such an approach. Fungicides could well be part of the reason you have fairy ring in your turf in the first place so it’s best not to go down this road. Applying fungicide now is a sure way to cast your green back into another spin on the Circle of Decline. The correct action plan is clear and simple.

February 6, 2023

Practical Tips to Achieve Performance Bowling Greens

I’ve sometimes asked readers of this blog to take on board some fairly lofty principles, which at first, might seem unrelated to the real world of daily greenkeeping with all the incumbent pressures and demands it brings. Bowling green performance is a long term game and consistently paying attention to 3 key principles will pay great dividends. In stark contrast to this we have the chopping and changing of techniques, materials and ideas I see and hear about at clubs all over the UK which almost always results in disappointment.

February 9, 2022

Measuring bowls green surface firmness

Measuring bowls green surface firmness is the critical 2nd step in the testing of our hypothesis on bowls green performance. In isolation, testing surface firmness only reveals yet another symptom of good or bad green performance. When allied to an assessment of soil moisture levels however, it can reveal some enlightening findings on the way to a Performance Bowling Green.

February 8, 2022

Can you measure bowls green smoothness and trueness?

Bowls green smoothness and trueness are measurements that lie at the very heart of bowling green performance. John defines these elusive performance parameters and reveals some of the high tech equipment being developed for measuring them objectively.

February 7, 2022

Greenkeeper’s nous and bowls green performance

There's a solid and direct link between greenkeeper's nous and bowls green performance. Most greenkeepers have an instinctive understanding of what affects bowling green performance and it's a short leap from there to putting our greens right for the long term. Somehow though, it just doesn't work like that. Maybe we don't have the courage of our own convictions or perhaps we've been indoctrinated into the belief that greenkeeping is complicated.

May 22, 2021

A note on the ecology of greens (and squirrels)

Understanding that the ecology of greens exists and what that means is more important for greenkeepers than understanding how that ecology works or indeed any of the scientific components of ecology in isolation. Stepping back and letting nature do its stuff can yield remarkable results.
In this article you'll discover how some commonly applied greenkeeping techniques are actually rather blunt instruments that can result in more harm than good. Top-dressing, applying lawn sand and fungicides are routinely applied to greens in an effort to treat the symptoms of common problems in the soil.

March 11, 2021

Turf Resiliency. Performance Evaluation of the Bowling Green Part 10.

Turf resiliency is one of the major factors determining bowling green performance and as such warrants close attention by the greenkeeper. Up to this point in our series on the evaluation of bowling green performance we have been dealing with attributes of grass, turf and soil that depend a lot on the greenkeeper's experience and "feel" for the turf. With resiliency we are getting closer to making more objective measurements.

March 5, 2021

Turf Grass Elasticity. Performance Evaluation of the Bowling Green Part 9.

Turf Grass Elasticity is an important factor in bowling green performance. Today we look a little closer at what this actually means and how it relates to our maintenance and use of the green.