Bowls Green Maintenance for May, It’s been a slow start to the growing season, as we head into May the temperatures are still all over the place and rain fall has been non-existent. The focus on this month is promoting healthy grass growth and ensuring we have a smooth and true playing surface for the season ahead.
Tasks for May
· 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
Dew
Throughout May, continue with brushing off the dew at your earliest convenience to reduce the disease risk.
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 your shed. This will help alleviate surface compaction and enhance soil aeration.
Cutting
We now want to get down to our playing height of cut. Reduce your height of cut to your preferred height (ideally between 4-5mm) and aim for a frequency of 2 -3 times a week if required. Alternate your mowing direction to prevent the grass laying down and to promote upright growth.
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 to remove lumps and bumps that may have accrued from worm cast, footprints etc……. This will smooth out the green and get the green rolling smoother and truer.
Fertilising
Apply a balanced liquid fertiliser to support a steady, healthy growth. We don’t want to over do it and encourage big flushes of growth as this will affect the quality of play. You want to be aiming for something like a 12-0-6/ 12-0-12. It would also benefit adding some seaweed to the mix will also help improve plant health and reduce plant stress.
As we have had very little rain over the last 6-8 weeks applying a wetting agent monthly will optimise soil moisture retention and distribution, ensuring a consistent moisture availability across your green
Irrigation
With this current dry spell many of you will already be using your irrigation system. In dry conditions aim to water your green thoroughly every three days to encourage deeper roots growth. Avoid light frequent watering, which can lead to shallow rooting and increase drought stress.
Disease Control
Continue to monitor for any signs of disease. If the weather stays damp and the temperatures start to rise then this is the perfect conditions for disease outbreaks.
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