Over-seeding of bowling greens seems like a straight-forward task; you put the seed on and the green’s bare areas recover. However, one of our regular readers has raised an interesting question today about over-seeding and it is by no means isolated. After over-seeding the green, the seed has taken well on the parts of the …
Search for ldp, localised dry patch - 42 results found
Localised dry patch…again
Localised dry patch is a disorder found in many bowls and golf greens. It can devastate the surface of greens and render them unplayable in extreme cases. Even mild cases will have a serious affect on green performance. John looks at the causes and cures in this article.
How to Water a Bowls Green
During dry and hot weather the need to water your green properly can't be over emphasised. Although it can be tempting to let the green burn to achieve speed, this can turn to disaster and cause the green to fail later in the season.
The Great Top-Dressing Debate
At its most basic, the answer is that excessive use of sand on bowling greens causes the under lying soil to become inert; lacking life or the complex web of interactions that go to make healthy, high performance turf. The natural balance of the soil/turf ecosystem is upset and the green will never be capable of consistent high performance for as long as the folly of top dressing is allowed to continue.
50 Years of Sand
From the very beginnings of the game of bowls, most clubs bowled on a green constructed largely of local top soil, built, prepared and seeded by the club members, perhaps with the help of a local gardener or farmer. Maintenance was largely mowing, turning the rinks on flat greens, keeping the surface clear of debris and worm casts and an occasional roll before a big match. In the autumn, a squad of members would descend on the green with forks to aerate or spike the green, before putting it to bed for the winter with a final cut and perhaps a bag of fertiliser.
Breaking into the Circle of Decline this Autumn
Yes, I'm thinking about Autumn already. Why?, It's all to do with the devastating effect of Localised Dry Patch on many greens this year. I've ever had so many people get in touch. It looks like the more regular occurrence of extreme heat and long dry spells is demonstrating the problem of excessively sandy rootzones, much better than I could ever hope to explain...
Finding the Sweet Spot in Bowling Green Performance
The Sweet Spot in greenkeeping is when your green's Physical, Chemical and Biological components come into line to deliver results you couldn't previously have imagined were possible. Hitting that sweet spot is a lot simpler than you might imagine too, as focus on the soil's biology will naturally correct some of the worst Chemical problems and compensate for some of the worst Physical ones. There should be no problem "selling" this idea to your club either as first of all it saves money and secondly it massively improves green performance and consistency.
Seaweed and how it benefits your turf
Seaweed extracts have been found to improve the quality of fine turf by increasing turf density, colour, and uniformity. Seaweed extracts contain betaines, which are natural osmoprotectants that help grass plants retain water and maintain turgor pressure, so should be a key component in the management and recovery of LDP affected turf. It's continued use results in a green that becomes increasingly resistant to wear and tear.
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.
New Seasonal Packs
Over the course of many years of providing the Bowls Central Soil Analysis service and based on the thousands of reports I’ve written, certain trends have been revealed, and these relate very closely to a group of problems I have termed collectively as The Circle of Decline in fine turf. Perhaps the most annoying and …
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