February Bowls Diary 2011

Many greens will have suffered as a consequence of the recent poor weather and changing soil and air temperatures. Grass growth will slow if temperatures remain below 5 degrees Celsius. Also, the recent snow cover may have incubated and promoted an outbreak of fusarium or snow mold disease. Depending on its severity, it will probably need a dose of fungicide to keep it under control.

Depending in which part of the country you are situated, the weather will be influencing what work you can achieve this month. Many areas are currently experiencing a cold weather front where temperatures have remained close to freezing. This has resulted in a number of ground frosts occurring. No work should be undertaken on the greens when they are in a frosty condition.

If the frosty weather persists over a number of days, it could lead to some problems with your irrigation systems, hose pipes and outside taps. Ideally, any water carrying pipe work should be lagged or protected from frost damage. Frost damage will lead to burst pipes and joints. Keep an eye out for these leaks.

Spring renovations are four to six weeks away. Ensure you have ordered your topdressing and seed requirements, along with any specialist machinery you may need to hire in for the tasks ahead. Get your orders in early to avoid disappointment.

Grass growth will be influenced by soil and air temperatures. Once we begin to see temperatures rising above 8 degrees Centigrade, grass growth will be stimulated. Mowing will be required to maintain sward at between 10-12mm.

Useful Information for Mowing

Articles		Products
	Facts about mowing		Bowling Green Grass Seed

Keep an eye on fungal disease attack and use approved fungicides to treat infected areas. Fusarium has been quite prolific, with some surfaces getting severely scarred. Use appropriate fungicides to control any further outbreaks, however, with the grass soon beginning to grow, it won't take long for these scars to grow out. Fairy rings are also quite prominent on greens at the moment. A dose of feed or liquid iron will stimulate some grass growth and this will help mask the fairy ring/ patches.

Useful Information for Disease

Articles		Products
	Fusarium patch - switch hitting it!		Fungicides

Fertilising: Generally, no fertiliser applications are made during the winter months, as plant growth has slowed down. However, some groundstaff may apply a dose of liquid iron to colour up and provide some strength to the grass plant.

Brushing/switching of the playing surface keeps the green clean and removes any dew or surface water. Keeping the surface dry will aid resistance to disease.

Useful Information for Fertilising / Brushing

Articles		Products
	Plant Nutrition - food for thought		Turf Fertilisers

Machinery and sundries: Keep machines overhauled and clean. Arrange the servicing of your machines ready for the new season. Keep an eye on your material stocks (seed, topdressing, petrol, oil), remembering to replenish as required.

Useful Information for Machinery

Articles		Products
	Security & Theft		Machinery

It is vitally important clubs put aside an allocation of funds for the maintenance of their greens. I see far too many clubs whose greens are in a poor condition due to the fact not enough work is done on them.

At the end of the day, there is a basic cost for materials and specialist operations. A typical end of season renovation using a competent contractor will cost between £1600-£2000; this would usually include the cost of the materials and labour (scarification, aeration, topdress with three-five tonnes of rootzone material and overseeding).

Some contractors also offer a yearly maintenance programme which will allow for end of season and spring renovation work, plus a number of other relevant cultural practices, aeration, fertiliser applications, wetting agents and fungicide applications to keep the green in good condition; this might also include some winter mowing regimes. However, the contractor, unless asked, will not normally carry out the regularly mowing duties during the growing season.

The cost for this would be in the region of between £6000-£9000 depending on circumstances, location and condition of the green. All of the above costs are only a guide.

Obviously, many bowls clubs do the work themselves using dedicated, committed volunteers. In those cases the clubs annual maintenance costs will be greatly reduced, having only to pay for the cost of the products/materials used.

At the end of the day, it is important clubs fund these operations with effective membership charges, or find the money by promoting activities that can earn an income which can be used towards the green's upkeep.

Once a club is aware of the annual costs for maintaining a green, they should effectively be able to generate the money to pay for it via subs and other activities.

Most bowls clubs may well have 50 plus members. If you were to charge them £100 pounds a year membership ( £2 per week), that would raise £5000 a year - a substantial sum that would make a great difference to the condition of your green.

Useful Information for Budgets

Articles		Products
	Budgets and Volunteers		Agronomy Tools