Bowls International — November 2017

54 BOWLS INTERNATIONAL November 2017 http://www.bowlsinternational.com

GREENCRAFT|John Quinn

M

owing should continue through the

autumn and winter months except when

the surface is very wet or frosty.

Raise the blades to 7 or 8mm and

keep the green mown as and when required. That

means making sure the grass never gets too long.

Long grass in winter time is asking for trouble with

fungal diseases such as fusarium. The taller canopy

creates a micro-climate at the soil surface around the

base of the plants. This can cause the area to stay

slightly warmer and wetter than it is above, creating

perfect conditions for fungal spores to get active.

Allowing the grass to get too long will also

encourage a broadening of the leaf, making the grass

coarser and difficult to get back into fine shape for the

new season next year.

You should apply the general rules for mowing as

you would at any other time, never taking away more

than a third of the leaf tissue at one time.

So, depending on growth rate and weather, this

might involve a weekly, fortnightly or monthly cut.

Regular mowing also helps to keep the green free of

other debris and importantly, makes sure that someone

is at the green to pick up on any problems that arise.

Sharp blades set with zero contact are important,

possibly even more so in winter as there is so little

scope for recovery from injury in winter.

Despite the tendency for clubs to put the green to bed at this time of year, nothing could be worse

for the green than to walk away and let it fend for itself at this time of year. In fact, the winter

months offer a fantastic opportunity for greenkeepers to help the green recover from the pressure

that was piled on it during the season.

NUTRITION

The Autumn Renovation works should

have included an application of a high

potassium (K), granular fertiliser and I

find that it is very useful to repeat this

in December or January to ensure that

Potassium is available to help plants deal

with the winter pressures.

Potassium activates the enzymes used

in protein, sugar, and starch synthesis

and is vital to many plant processes.

The correct amount of plant Potassium

improves cold hardiness and disease

resistance. Potassium is highly soluble

and leaches easily from sandy soils so

a December or January top up will be

helpful.

Although moss is usually said to be

a lover of wet soil, I find that the areas

most affected by moss on bowling greens

are simply those where the grass has

thinned due to pressures from play or

disorders such as Localised Dry Patch.

When the sward is thick and dense,

there is no room for moss, so the ultimate

aim of any greenkeeping programme

should be to encourage a dense sward of

fine perennial grasses.

However, in the meantime there will be

Greenkeeping Tasks for Late Autumn and Winter

AERATION

The pressure put on the turf and soil through the bowling

season is considerable and this results in compaction.

Compaction is simply downward pressure on the surface

that squeezes the soil particles more closely together,

reducing the pore space in the soil.

Macro pore space (Aeration Porosity) is essential for

good drainage and well oxygenated soil, so a programme

of deep slit tine aeration that continues through the winter

months is a vital part of the greenkeeping programme.

Winter is by far the best time to get on top of compaction.

This isn’t a one off operation. Deep slit tining should

continue right through the October to March period and

twice a month isn’t too much. Ideally you would arrange

for this to be done just ahead of mowing, so that the

mower’s roller can settle down any tails or slight raised

areas created by the action of the spiker.

The type of machine I prefer to use for this uses knife-

like tines on discs. These tines can penetrate to around

125-150mm and leave a large partially circular slice

through the soil, but leave only a small slit on the turf

surface.

problems with moss to deal with and that

usually means Iron.

In almost every soil analysis I do

for bowling clubs, Iron has built up to

excessive levels in the soil, so adding

more has to be considered carefully.

To keep moss in check and stop it

spreading through the winter months it is

best to use Chelated Liquid Iron as it is

more readily available to the plants and

doesn’t get locked up in the soil, adding

to the problem.

This means you can work on the

underlying problems that have allowed

moss to take hold.

One place that moss will readily take

over is any patch of thinned grass cover

and scars left over from fungal disease

outbreaks are a prime target.

DISEASE

Of course, any disease outbreak should

be taken seriously in winter, as it can

spread quickly and kill off a lot of grass.

Traditionally this would have meant

applying a preventative fungicide over

the entire green in autumn, but this

approach has deep agronomic flaws.

Fungicides are indiscriminate and kill

Silt tining machine

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