Comprehensive Chemical Analysis and Peak Sand (Texture Assessment) of your green’s soil (rootzone). You will receive soil sample bags with instructions for taking and returning (freepost) your soil samples to the lab. The results will come back to you from Bowls Central with a full report detailing all Primary, Secondary and Trace elements, Cation Exchange …
In this article we take the soil samples you removed in Fix your bowling green Step1 and look more closely at them to discover what's going on under your green. This is one of the most valuable practices that any greenkeeper can undertake as it can reveal a wealth of information about the condition of your green that you could previously only guess at.
However we choose to interact with this bowling green ecosystem (with or against nature) we will be working within a dynamic, constantly changing environment and it is vital that we understand this before stepping off into a new program of maintenance. In other words we need to think of our green as an eco-system. Getting to grips with some universal ecological terms will be useful.
Compost Tea is a home made spray that is applied to fine turf to increase the micro life in the soil. It reintroduces missing microbes and boosts the populations of all of the main beneficial microbe groups such as bacteria, protozoa and the all important Fungi. Some of these help to degrade thatch, turning it into valuable humus, giving life and body to the depleted and often excessively sandy soil in many bowling greens.
The relationship between sand and bowling green performance has become a thing of legend with the majority of clubs still throwing more sand on their greens every year, despite a worrying trend showing poorer and less predictable green performance due to problems like Localised Dry Patch and excessive thatch. It seems that for many clubs the dots aren't being connected between too much sand and poor performance. In this article I will explain the fundamentals that greenkeepers must keep in mind with regard to their bowling green soil.
I once commented that there are only ever two real problems in bowling greenkeeping; compaction and thatch, with the rest of the myriad problems we come across being merely symptoms of these Big Two. Lately, I've revised that thinking, as the more I see of ill treated bowling greens the more I realise that, although they are important, even thatch and compaction are only symptoms too. The trouble we face in greenkeeping is that the industry wants us to treat symptoms. If we treated the root cause after all, we wouldn't need to buy half as much stuff! But before we get too carried away, let's have a recap on what bowls green compaction actually means.
Winter Greenkeeping Strategies have to a large extent been based on preventative fungicide, putting the green to bed and hoping for the best. This overlooks the huge opportunity greenkeepers have to make a real difference through applying some sound Winter Greenkeeping Strategies right through the closed months.
Successfully dealing with fairy ring in fine turf is a challenge facing many greenkeepers, but one that can be broken down into easily taken key steps. The conventional remedies that feature the use of fungicides are simply dealing with symptoms and can guarantee only one outcome; temporary relief followed by a worsening of the problem over the longer term. In this article you'll find a pesticide free, long term solution that also alleviates the short term symptoms.
Greenkeeping Tasks for September and October have become to some degree a bit repetitive. This would be fine if the desired results followed, but in the majority of cases this can't be said to be true. This month John explains the science behind the perfect autumn renovation plan to get your green started down the road to consistent high performance.
