Bowls Green Maintenance For August- as we have entered August we have finally had some much needed rain. Although some heavy down pours it very welcome, temperature have also been a little lower which is making life a little easier. This month we want to continue with what we was doing in July but making a few alterations to our watering programme if the wetter conditions continue.
Tasks for August
· Continue to remove the morning dew from the green
· Aeration
· Cutting
· Light verticutting and rolling to smooth out the playing surface
· Fertilising/ Wetting Agent
· Irrigation
· Disease control
· Monitor wear patterns
· Maintenance Preparation
Dew
Throughout August, continue with brushing off the morning dew at your earliest convenience to reduce the disease risk. Light brushing will control the grain and improve ball roll.
Aeration
Continue with your monthly light spiking, Sarral roller or a small micro solid tining is the perfect piece of machinery to use if you have one in you shed. This will help alleviate surface compaction and enhance soil aeration. If you have a chance, a light top dressing with sand/soil mix will help maintain smoothness.
Cutting
Your green will be down to your preferred height (4-5mm) depending on usage and grass health. You want to aim to be mowing your green at least 4-6 times per week, alternate your mowing direction to prevent the grass laying down and to promote upright growth. As you are now using your mower frequently, make sure you keep the mower maintained and the blades sharp and the cutting height on point.
Verticutting/ Rolling the playing surface
Continue with light verticuting to help reduce the lateral growth and get the grass standing up. If you have a light roller then run this over your green, this will smooth out the green and get the green rolling smoother and truer.
Fertilising
Continue with a balanced liquid fertiliser programme to support a steady, healthy growth. We don’t want to use anything with to high N (Nitrogen) as this will encourage big flushes of growth and this will affect the quality of play. You want to be aiming for something like a
12-0-6. It would also benefit adding some seaweed to the mix which will also help improve plant health and reduce plant stress.
Continue with applying you wetting agent monthly, this will optimise soil moisture retention and distribution, ensuring a consistent moisture availability across your green, making the most use out of water applied to. This will help to prevent dry patch.
Irrigation
We’ve had some rain recently which means we may not need to run the irrigation system as much, depending on the weather over the next few weeks will depend on how often you will need to use your system. If we continue to get the stormy showers then the irrigation will not be required as much.
If we see another wave of hot weather then hand and watering any dry patches is a good way to target localised dry areas. If you have a spray gun that can take a wetting agent tablet then use this as this will help the water penetrate the surface.
If you need to use your irrigation system then a light, late afternoon/ early morning watering with your irrigation system will help during the hot spell. Avoid soaking the green as this can cause more harm as any thatch that’s in your green will hold the water like a sponge and can get to hot throughout the day and cook your green.
Disease Control
Continue to monitor for any signs of disease. Watch out for dollar spot and anthracnose. Maintain good airflow, avoid watering at night and if needed use a fungicide to control any outbreaks.
Wear Patterns
As the green is now being used more frequently you may start to see wear areas appearing, rotate the direction of play and repair any high traffic areas and allow them to recover. If you can, spike any wear areas and hand sprinkle seed into the holes, apply a light top dressing over these areas. If you have any issues with pest you can peg chicken wire over the areas until they have established.
Keep your ditches trimmed/edged and cleaned to keep the surrounding of your green looking neat and tidy.
Maintenance Preparation
End of season maintenance is not to far away, If you use a contractor to carry out your end of year works it may be worth making contact with them and getting your dates booked in with them. A lot of bowls club finish around the same time and all plan to have their works done around the same time so it’s a good idea to get in there early and get your preferred dates booked in. Also start thinking about topdressing/ seed and fertiliser as you will need to have this on site prior to your contractor turning up.
To see more Bowling Green Blogs
I hope you found my Bowls Green Maintenance For May of some help by MWTurfcare
