Bowls Green Maintenance For February is our monthly guide on what works to carry out on your green from a ex greenkeeper, cutting, nutrition, aeration and more as and when are appropriate for the month in questions. Brought to you kindly by MWTURFCARE
As we head into the latter part of the winter months, the daylight hours are increasing, however this doesn’t mean we are out of the worst of the weather just yet, so below are a list of jobs that can be undertaken.
Tasks for February
- Maintain hedges/bushes
- Continue to remove the morning dew from the green
- Remove worm cast with a switch in the afternoon once they have dried out
- Keep your green free from debris (leaves, twigs etc)
- Maintain your preferred winter cutting height (Between 8-10mm)
- Continue with your monthly aeration
- Moss Control
- Disease Control
By looking at the weather forecast in advance will allow you to plan ahead for the month.
If the ground is frozen, then carrying out any work on your green will be delayed. This will allow you time to get on with projects off the green such as undertaking any machinery maintenance that you might not have got around to and also the last chance to cut/tidy up any hedges or bushes you may have on your site (it’s the ideal time to get these works done as you will not be able to do these after March due to the start of the birds nesting season).
Dew and Worm Cast Control
Throughout February, and if the weather is mild, the chances are that morning dew will appear on the green, if so this will need brushing off at your earliest convenience. Removing the dew will help keep the leaf as dry as possible and therefore help to prevent outbreaks of disease. If there is dew present and you are unable to remove the dew daily then a dew dispersant can be applied to the green to help with keeping the dew to a minimum for a short period of time.
If it’s been wet and worms have been active then you will need to remove any worm casts from the green. For best results, wait until the casts have dried and then use a switch cane or brush to smash the worm casts up. If you attempt to do these while they are wet, they will smear, look unsightly and smother the grass which will cause issues.
Debris checks and Clearance
Before any machine works are carried out you must check your green for debris. If there are any fallen leaves, twigs or litter on the green then you will want to remove this before cutting. Running your mower over this could cause damage to the mower blades which in turn will affect the cut quality. Whilst clearing the green, it would be worth removing any debris out the ditches and also any leaves that may be on the surrounding walkways/paths.
Cutting and Aeration
If the temperatures are rising and the grass is starting to grow, cut the green at your preferred winter height (recommended between 8-10mm) and maintain it at that height for the month.
When weather allows, continue with your aeration and solid spike to the depth of 4 inches if possible. If you don’t have access to an aerator you may have a sarel roller cassette for your mower, if you do, install that and run this over your green as this will also allow air flow into the soil profile.
Moss Control
With the wetter conditions that we have seen over the past couple of months, moss may be encroaching into your green. An application of lawn sand or spray application of iron sulphate will help to control the moss, the product will dehydrate the moss and this will turn black. As we move into spring, the moss can then be removed with light scarification/verticutting.
I hope you found my Bowls Green Maintenance For February of some help by MWTurfcare
