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Autumn and Winter Bowling Green Maintenance Guide

Autumn and Winter Bowling Green Maintenance Guide…

Well here we are at the end of another bowling season. It’s hard to believe that it’s that time already. On my travels around I’ve spotted the usual signs that autumn is coming with some clubs still stacking up the top dressing ready for the renovation onslaught. How I wish more clubs would re-think that plan and join the growing ranks of forward thinking clubs.

At this time of year you will hear a well worn phrase oft repeated:

“Time to put the green to bed for the winter”

Nothing makes me shudder more than that phrase as it communicates an attitude towards bowling green maintenance that is completely at odds with achieving a performance bowling green.

The process of putting the green to bed usually involves maintenance practices that many clubs have abandoned on my advice and who are now reaping the benefits of better green performance, more consistent playing conditions and although not the main aim of my program, vastly reduced maintenance costs; a nice bonus wouldn’t you say?

The putting the green to bed plan also assumes that the green should more or less be left alone after the autumn renovation program and I’m here to tell you that nothing could be further from the truth, if you want a performance green next year that is.

The autumn and winter period is the most important time of year to get some of the key work done on the green and it should be quite a busy time. The bonus is that you get to be out in the fresh, crisp air in the winter working off the Christmas excess as a lot of what I’ll be recommending is physical work.

The second best seller after Performance Bowling Greens on Bowls Central is The Autumn and Winter Bowling Green Maintenance Guide.

This guide provides step by step advice for general autumn maintenance as well as specific advice for all of the common bowling green problems like Disease, LDP, Moss, Thatch and Compaction.

 

Winter Mower Servicing

Another popular subject this month has been Winter Mower Servicing and in particular what you should expect of your local service workshop.

There have been many tales of work not being done properly and overcharging for service. Here is the minimum that you should expect to be included in a quote for winter service:

  1. Full engine service including checking electrics, starting mechanism, new spark plug, all filters and oil change.
  2. Replace bottom blade (new blade ground-in first)
  3. Re-grind (not back lap) cylinder
  4. Check roller bearings and advise if worn (adjust if possible)
  5. Re-set cylinder to bottom blade clearance and check for even cut
  6. Re-set mowing height to that specified by club.
  7. Treat and touch up paint on any areas of rust
  8. Check and adjust clutch settings
  9. Check belts and replace if worn
  10. Check Groomer and re-set to height specified by club
  11. Check and adjust chain tensions
  12. Lubricate all points
  13. Free off and lubricate all adjustment mechanisms and check for proper operation
  14. Check all cables for wear and replace/re-adjust as required

This is a minimum list and your particular brand of mower might have further items that will need to be checked. Check the manufacturer’s handbook for details, or better still request a winter service checklist from your local dealer.

Now is the time to check that this has all been done properly, not when you are half way across the green with a broken down mower on opening day morning!

Protection of Bowls Greens during “Real” Winters

Winter Protection Could be Critical

Thanks to everyone who downloaded the free winter maintenance report at the start of the winter.

Now here we are approaching the Christmas holidays and I don’t think many of you will have been able to implement much of the work that I recommend both in the Winter Maintenance Guide and in Performance Bowling Greens, a practical guide.

This is of course due to it being too wintry!

Well the good news is that if you made even a start to the recommended autumn/ winter compaction relief work by getting one or maybe two passes made with the deep slit tiner, then the frost will be doing a lot of good by getting into the soil and heaving it into fissures in the compacted zone.

However, the bad news is two-fold:

  1. it is going to prove difficult to do any work on greens throughout most of the UK this winter due to excessive frost and snow cover on greens; The winter program is essential and if your particular corner of the nation is free of frost and snow you should bash on with the winter work as much as you possibly can.
  2. The worst effect of this excessive cold weather is that the soil temperature is being forced down to levels that we don’t usually have to put up with very often.

This second point is very important and will become increasingly so in the months and years to come.

What’s the problem?

Well, my old Mum has a saying: “We’ve never died a winter yet”, which of course means that we are resilient and can adapt our approach to life to cope with whatever it throws at us.

Is it time to apply this thinking to our bowling greens; do they need further protection from the winter than we currently afford them?

Although I am not advocating a panic buying type situation I do think it is time for us to look at Read more

Performance Bowls Green Maintenance Schedule

A few readers have asked for guidance on what work they should be carrying out on the green on a month to month basis.

Now of course conditions across the UK are widely varied at the moment; some areas in the south are free from frost, whilst here in Perthshire we can have very hard ground and many days of minus temperatures, in the southern parts of the country things can be and often are a lot milder.

When there is frost or snow cover its simply a waiting game; it really is best not to try to remove snow or ice from the green for two reasons:

  1. the damage that could be caused to the turf and soil by actually doing this work.
  2. the snow is affording the turf some protection from the worst of the cold weather; see my article on winter green protection here.

However, after the snow has gone and you start to see a prolonged period of thaw there are a few things you need to look out for as follows: Read more

Dealing with Snow and Ice on Your Green

A couple of years ago we were hit by severe snow and ice in some parts of the country and it raised a few questions about how best to deal with severe winter weather on bowling greens. I am re-visiting this today as a timely reminder now that we are in the winter season. Hopefully this will be a good omen and we wont get any snow this year!

The unusually early onset of winter in 2009 and 2010 created a few problems for most of us and seriously curtailed many winter maintenance programs.

We received a lot of enquiries asking for advice on dealing with the snow and ice on bowling greens and the aftermath of deep snow cover.

The main concern during and after snow cover is the potential for the outbreak of fungal diseases such as fusarium patch; and indeed, fusarium might well be encountered after the snow has melted. Although many clubs will have applied a preventative fungicide in the Autumn, this might not have provided total protection, but should have minimised the risk of attack.

When the snow has gone you might well find active areas of Fusarium and this should be treated with a curative fungicide containing the active ingredients iprodione  or chlorothalonil applied as per the manufacturer’s advice.

Many of the enquiries we have received have been related to the actual snow cover and clubs have been worried about the prolonged cover of snow and ice on their turf and have asked if they should be pro-active and do something to remove the ice cover. My advice would be to leave it and allow it to melt naturally.

Attempting to remove ice could result in damage to the turf, soil structure and grass plants.

Please also remember that even after the snow and ice has gone the underlying soil could still be frozen and any activity on the green could result in damage to the root system of the green.

Please make sure that the green has completely thawed by probing the soil before commencing (and catching up) with your winter maintenance program.

Any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.