Bowls Green Maintenance for October, which is a month where you carry out your end of season renovation works to ensure your turf is healthier and stronger for next year’s playing season. If you haven’t already carried out your works, you need to be looking at doing them before the weather changes and get too cold for recovery.
Tasks for October
· Continue to remove the morning dew from the green
· Cutting
· Renovation works If not yet carried out
· Slitting/ Spiking
· Watering
· Disease control
· Worm Cast
· General Maintenance
Dew
Throughout October, continue with brushing off the morning dew at your earliest convenience to reduce disease risk.
Cutting
Now the season is over you can raise your height to (6-8mm) to protect the grass going into autumn/winter. You can also reduce the frequency to 2-3 times a week depending on the rate of growth. If you have already carried out your end of season renovations then allow the new seed to germinate and when ready to mow, cut at a higher height, just topping the grass and not mowing too short ensuring not to put your new seedlings under stress.
Renovation works if not yet carried out
– A heavy scarification in 2 to 3 directions to open up the surface
– Hollow tining
– Overseed with a fine turf seed mix @ 20-35g/m2
– Topdress with a 60/40 loam/sand dressing @ 3-5 kg/m2
– Apply a low nitrogen autumn feed. Something with a low N (Nitrogen) and higher P (Phosphorus) and K (Potassium). This will encourage root growth and harden the turf ahead of winter.
Slitting/ Spiking
If you have a slitter or spiker continue with this to relieve compaction and encourage water and air movement.
Watering
In September we did see a nice amount of rainfall which was certainly welcome. If you had already carried out your end of season works and you got it done before the rain then you may have already seen results with new seed popping after the rain. However after the rain we have once again seen a dry spell which we need to keep an eye on. We need to continue to monitor the soil to make sure it stays moist until the seed has germinated and established. Many clubs have had to continue to use their irrigation watering system to help with aiding recovery. I see we are due some rain early October but again if this does dry up we need to be on standby to water the green until recovery is fully established.
Disease Control
Continue to monitor for any signs of disease. It’s still warm and with the wetter start to October we need to be on guard and keep an eye out for Fusarium (Microdochium Patch) which is common in damp conditions. Applying a preventative fungicide or having a fungicide on the shelf is a good idea for this time of year. This way if you do have an outbreak then you’re ready to act fast.
Worm Cast
It’s that time of year again, with the damper conditions we are going to start to see more and more worm cast. If possible allow them to dry and then use a cane switch to break the worm cast up. If you try to clear them with a brush in the morning when they’re wet then they are going to smear and leave a mess.
General Maintenance
· Remove leaves and debris that may have fallen onto the green.
· Maintain any hedges/ trees.
· Check ditches and edges, ensure they are kept clean and carry out any repair works if necessary.
· Ensure any machinery that is being put away for the winter is clean and dry before being left for months
To see more Bowling Green Blogs
I hope you found my Bowls Green Maintenance For May of some help by MWTurfcare
