| When it comes to maintaining Lawn Bowling Greens, there
is no substitute for research and study in turf management.
The more is done by the Turf Manager, the more prepared he
is for either producing a top quality playing surface or to
survive a playing surface during harsh times either through
climatic constraints or over use of the green. Weather that
research be in relation to the climate, grasses, soils, or
products in use, it is all important in putting together a
maintenance plan to produce and sustain an ideal playing surface. |
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When considering maintaining bowling greens on an annual basis
the maintenance can be broken down into two parts - Growing/improving
the green, and Maintaining & protecting the green. Green improvements
are usually carried out during the off season or any breaks that
usually occur during the season, and the remainder of the year
when the green is in use, time is generally spent in maintaining
and protecting the green, generally ensuring that an even and
consistent grass cover is maintained while producing optimum playing
conditions. Whilst the green is in play it is usually difficult
to improve the condition of the turf, as the stresses of play
only create issues particularly with the root system and turf
quality and only improvements are possible to the soil nutrition
of the green whilst it is in play. Once the green is in play reliance
is placed on all the good work that has been done either through
renovations or pre-season work to ensure it plays to its potential.
When considering improving a bowling green, there are normally
two major factors that are the supporting reasons behind achieving
this - dealing with the health of the soil, and developing a deep
and vigorous root system, which in turn involves improving grass
coverage/quality of the green. When the Improvement a bowling
green surface is required, aeration is of extreme importance.
Aeration
Under normal circumstances the compaction issues that face Turf
Managers are challenging and unfortunately more often than not
Turf Managers are unable to do much about it as the greens are
under heavy usage, or in many cases their budgets are too restrictive.
In many scenarios, Clubs are limited to one or maximum two aerifications
per green per year, and with the big compaction issues faced this
is not enough. In an ideal scenario, Bowling Greens should be
aerated on a regular basis, where around 10% of the surface should
be removed each year through aeration, this allows not only the
air to get down in the profile, but assists in reducing the thatch,
allows nutrients to work into the profile, and of course keeps
the root system going down through the profile in its efforts
to 'chase water'
One of the main issues that Lawn Bowling Green Turf Managers
face with aeration is the surface disruption that it causes. Club
committees and bowlers are generally against any maintenance practice
that will effect the speed of the green during the season, so
aeration during the season is sometimes disallowed for this reason,
however, the aeration of the Green's ends on a regular basis,
which is predominantly the major wear areas on a Green and can
be easily done during the season, which can be a vital tool in
maintaining grass coverage through the season. In recent years
there has been some innovative aeration tine designs come onto
the market that causes less disruption to the green, and in particular
the introduction of the hydroject has allowed Turf Managers to
aerate their greens with virtually no disruption at all.
Thatch management
A closely related issue to aeration is the management of thatch
in bowling green surfaces. Thatch is basically the decomposed
and un-decomposed organic matter that lies in the turf surface.
Thatch builds up in a green because the organic matter accumulates
faster than it can be decomposed by either decomposition or mechanical
means. The accumulation of thatch is a normal process, although
us Turf Managers often contribute to the accumulation through
high water and fertilizer inputs and not balancing the make up
of our soils well. Keeping in mind that the production of turf
in a bowling green situation is not natural and general speaking
thatch is not a problem in a natural grass land, and it only becomes
a problem once we start contributing large inputs into our turf.
Thatch has the potential to cause us many problems in our quest
to producing quality playing surfaces. The most noticeable, particularly
to the bowlers is the slow green speed, excessive thatch produces
a spongy, soft surface that produces a slow surface. Excessive
thatch will result in the turf having shallow roots, will reduce
water infiltration, and generally provides a good habitat for
insects to live in and harbors many disease issues.
As Turf Managers we then need to address how we are going prevent
and/or control our thatch problems. The easy and simple answer
to that is not to allow the thatch problems to occur in the first
place. To ensure this happens, irrigation and fertilizer applications
need to be monitored closely. The principal deep and infrequent
watering needs to be adhere to closely, the principal of 'little
and often' needs to apply when a fertilizer program is being considered.
Both of these principals have a large effect on the performance
of the root system, which will be discussed later. For one reason
or another, at some stage we will be faced with thatch problems,
which will require us to put in place a program to control the
thatch and preferably diffuse it. There are four main practices
that are used to control thatch, the first being mechanical dethatching,
the second involves hollow tine aeration, physically removing
a piece of thatch each and every time the green is aerated, the
third is frequent sand topdressing, involving regular light applications
of sand topdressing to dilute the thatch layer, and finally, increasing
microbial activity in the soil, in other words increasing the
activity of the good bacteria, fungi and worms. This is turn allows
the thatch to be decomposed at a faster rate, particularly as
soil temperatures rise.
| In the event that the thatch layer on a green gets out of
control and the maintenance practice mention above are in
effective, the Turf Manager is left with no real option but
to take the top off the green, and re-leveling and re-sowing
the surface. The key is to ensure the depth of the thatch
does not get out of control as all on the maintenance practice
that controls thatch generally deal with top 25mm - 50mm and
in the event that the thatch gets deeper than this, taking
the top off the green is the only real answer to controlling
thatch. |
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Nutrition
It is imperative when managing bowling greens efficiently it
is done with the inclusion of an adequate nutrition program. When
setting up a nutrition program for a bowling green, two major
aspects should be looked at - what the plant requires, and secondly
what the soil requires to support good plant growth. In many cases
the requirements of the plant and soil are one in same and in
other cases there are different requirements, this of course depends
on the soil and grass types in use. For example some situations
the plant might be in need of nutrients such as trace elements,
but the soils might have adequate levels, in this situation foliar
applications of nutrients is required to allow the plant to take
up the nutrients, in other situations granular applications are
more effective.
Generally speaking the approach with nutrition should be little
and often, and only applying what is absolute necessary, where
applications of fertilizer should only be committed for plant
and soil health, and not color. Fertilizing our greens to generate
an aesthetic pleasing appearance is common, however, can lead
to many problems including thatch, disease, insect, and wear problems.
In relation to setting up a nutrition program, soil and tissue
testing along with an evaluation on turf quality is always the
best place to start. Without the inclusion of these tests and
data, any fertilizer applications to the green will be predominately
guess work, which can be inaccurate and costly.
When implementing a nutrition program there are many nutrients
and soil amendments that are considered vital in balancing the
soil and plant growth in order to produce a healthy green year
around, however, evidently contributions to a nutrition program
will be governed by a budget, and in many cases Lawn Bowling Clubs
don't have a lot of extra funds to assign to a comprehensive nutrition
program.
It is common knowledge the three most important nutrients that
turf requires to function is Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium
and should be the base for the development of a nutrition program.
Fortunately there are many fertilizer blends on the market that
are made of balanced ratios of these nutrients which makes easy
application for the Turf Manager. The functions of each of these
nutrients are vital and at the same time are complex and this
paper will not be going through the in-depth functions of each.
Although phosphorous is important, it is required in smaller
amounts when compared to Nitrogen and Potassium. In most situations,
an even balance of Nitrogen and Potassium should be applied to
the green on a monthly basis as generally speaking the plant requires
both of these nutrients in approximately even quantities.
Nitrogen is generally considered the most important element in
plant nutrition, where it is generally used for controlling the
growth of the green. However, many Turf Managers are inclined
to over apply Nitrogen resulting in the problems already outlined.
The application of potassium, like nitrogen is considered important
in maintaining quality turf on bowling greens, generally speaking
potassium is used to harden and protect the plant against extreme
weather variations and heavy usage. Potassium is also responsible
for mobilizing other nutrients and maintaining healthy plant function.
Like Potassium the application of nitrogen should be applied
monthly to your greens to regulate the growth and maintain plant
resistance to wear and other stresses. The general rule of thumb
when drawing up a nutrition program for the application of these
two nutrients, they should be applied at a rate of 0.25kg of actual
elemental nutrient per 100m2 per month. There is a calculation
that allows this to be accurately calculated. These calculations
are designed to take the guess work out of applying fertilizer.
Other Nutrients & amendments
Outside of NPK nutrients, Calcium is viewed as being important
in that it has numerous important functions in supporting healthy
growth for the plant. It also has an import role in keeping the
soil profile open and when present in the soil in good quantities
it assists in balancing out other nutrients. Other nutrients that
should also be considered when forming a nutrition program are
as follows;
- Magnesium, Manganese, Iron and Zinc - when present aid the
resistance to disease, insect and wear
- Calcium - Magnesium ratios - when balanced provide a balanced
soil for growth
- Maintain high CEC - preferably above 5, assists in retaining
nutrients in the soil, without being leached
- Healthy humus levels - generally important in providing a
healthy soil
- Balance PH at around 6.5 - important in ensuring optimum growth
occurs
- Hormone products - can be important in manipulating plant
growth, along with root development
An important aspect in managing bowling greens that is often
overlooked is the addition of Wetting Agents on a regular basis.
Due to the excessive wear and compaction issues that are present
with bowling greens wetting agents can go a long way to assisting
in reducing some of the stresses the turf is placed under. The
adding of wetting agents to the maintenance program assists in
the uniform movement of water through the soil profile, and even
distribution of moisture and availability throughout profile.
Wetting Agents increase the resilience of the green, and generally
assists in the green being healthier.
In relation to maintenance, adding wetting agent to the program
restricts water repellency, therefore reduces dry patch and eventually
leads to using less water during irrigation. One of the major
complaints of bowlers is the inconsistent surface a green sometimes
presents, the addition of wetting agents will help in keeping
the greens performance even & consistent.
Irrigation management
Undoubtedly one of the most important factors in maintaining
quality Lawn Bowling Greens is the correct management and scheduling
of irrigation. On bowling greens, learning the skills of irrigation
management is more an art than a science. The major problem faced
is Turf Managers are required to produce fast paced, consistent
greens, but at the same time keep the turf on the green in a healthy
condition, and this is predominately why Lawn Bowling Green Turf
Managers have one toughest jobs in the turf industry.
The important factors in winning this battle is committing to
an irrigation program that involves;
- Deep & infrequent applications of water (watering to field
capacity)
- Minimize light frequent hand watering
- Syringing during times of stress (ensuring it's a very fine
spray)
- Know your irrigation system & how much it applies
- Avoid hydrophobic conditions
- Knowing your water quality, and having it analyzed
- Using wetting agents
Another debate relating to bowling green irrigation is the use
of manual systems v's automatic systems. As time goes by more
and more Clubs are going towards automatic systems due to their
time and labor saving, along with the precision that automatic
systems bring. However, they are more costly to install, and more
expensive to maintain. On the other hand manual irrigation systems
and still used by many Clubs effectively, they are maintained
and operated for a minimum cost, they rarely break down, they
can be more flexible in relation to dealing with localized dry
spot, however can potentially use more water, are more labor intensive,
which generally doesn't allow watering at night therefore requires
green closure to carry out irrigation.
Developing and maintaining a root system
The last three topics mentioned in this paper - aeration, thatch,
and irrigation all combined together is the principal factors
in maintaining and developing a deep and vigorous root system.
In any turf situation the root system is the key in supporting
the growth of healthy turf, and for providing the turf with the
potential to deal with all the stresses that it comes in contact
with on a day to day basis. Based on this, a simple conclusion
can be made;
"Any green that has a deep and vigorous root system will
have very little problems"
In order to develop a deep and vigorous root system, the following
rules need to be adhered to;
- Minimize thatch at all costs, roots like to live in thatch
as they are well accommodated there
- Ensure Greens are irrigated deep and infrequently - this will
ensure the roots will grow deep looking for the moisture for
the plant, so in turn it is rewarded with a 'feed' of plant
hormone Auxin
- Ensure the green is on a regular aeration program - this will
reduce the greens compaction, provide a good amount of air into
the profile, reduce thatch, and provide a easy avenue for roots
to grow deep chasing water
- Impose a mild amount of moisture stress on the green on a
regular basis - encouraging the roots to grow deep looking for
water
- Avoid excessive applications of Nitrogen ---- this leads to
carbohydrate exhaustion, and the plant redirecting the nutrients
from the root system to the leaf & stem of the plant
- Balance soil nutrients, particularly Phosphorus, Potassium,
and Auxin. Adding the plant hormone Auxin to the nutrition program
can assist in the development & maintenance of the root
system
- Avoid regular amounts of shallow watering
- Avoid stressing the turf with mechanical means (scalping,
unnecessary mowing, observe1/3 rule) - these practices all stress
the root system
- Consider using Primo maxx in the maintenance program - it
has the potential to redirect the plant nutrients into the root
system to aid development
Surface Preparation
The preparation of the surface of the green is the finishing
of all the good maintenance and preparation work that has been
done previously with the soil profile and root system. Mowing
is the first thing that comes to mind when carrying out the final
preparations of the green. Although mowing seems quite straight
forward, there are some important factors to consider in ensuring
a good mowing program compliments an already good maintenance
program.
It should be understood that each and every time the green is
cut, a small amount of damage is inflicted on the greens surface,
with this, below are some points to keep in mind when setting
up a mowing program:
- Only cut when necessary, remember each & every cut is
damaging turf
- Cut a different direction each time, keeping the green even
and consistent
- Always cut in different direction than play avoid bowls 'tracking'
- Always cut at optimal cutting height for the turf species
selected
- Always follow 1/3 rule, avoiding carbohydrate exhaustion
- Cut in morning, while the leaf is standing up, and during
the coolest part of the day
- Limit 'clean up' or 'ring' cuts to avoid extra stress on green's
edges
- Always ensure the mower is 100% sharp to avoid damaged turf
and therefore providing avenues for disease and an unhealthy
green in general
- Lay protection 'cloth' to turn the mower on each time the
green is cut
Grooming & verticuting
Grooming and verticutting is an important maintenance practice
that is applied to the surface of the green to ensure that standard
of the surface meets the expectations of the Turf Manager, players,
and committee alike. Like rolling, grooming & verticutting
is the 'finishing touches' to be carried out in the preparation
of a green for play. In short, these practices are aimed at:
- Controlling thatch & mat
- Improving green speed
- Encouraging a deeper root system
- Ensuring smooth playability
- Providing better surface consistency
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Green speed & rolling
Finally in relation to surface preparation, rolling and the controlling
of green speed is an important factor. It is easy to over commit
the amount of rolling that is done on a green, as there is often
a considerable amount of pressure placed on Turf Managers for
excessive green speeds, which can lead to many problems including
excessive wear, extreme compaction, and poor health of the green
in general. Despite the requests that Turf Managers get from members
to ensure green speeds are high, it is important that the greens
are not pushed too hard for green speed too early in season. As
the season progresses, the greens will naturally firm up and speed
will increase, without needing to over commit to rolling and low
cutting heights. The cautious approach needs to be taken early
season, not to over roll and push too hard for green speed, a
wary approach will result in the greens being in good condition
at the end of the season resulting in bowlers wanting to play
on them greens because they are in good condition - remember,
most greens are in good early in the season, however, it is only
the well maintained, well managed greens that are in good condition
by the end of the season, this is a direct reflection of the Turf
Managers skills and knowledge. The key factors in achieving and
sustaining suitable green speed, is as follows:
- Manage irrigation correctly, watering to field capacity inflicting
mild moisture stress by game day
- Groom & verticut only when necessary
- Regular cutting, regular cutting program will increase green
speed, but remember not to over cut, and ensure the optimum
cutting height is used for the species chosen
- Roll in morning ------ keeps the plant lying down for whole
day
- Use of Primo Maxx - can be a powerful tool in increasing turf
density, therefore increasing green speed
- Remember green speed naturally progresses as the season progresses
Avoiding problems with wear & dealing with stresses turf
It is inevitable that at some point in time as a bowling green
Turf Manager you will be required to deal with wear issues. As
mention earlier in this paper the off season is generally spent
improving the condition of the green, and the season is generally
spent maintaining the green and attempting to prevent the green
from deteriorating as much as possible. Maintaining the green
in good condition is only possible if the pre-season work has
been good and in particular the renovation work. It is crucial
that that the off season green closure is made the most of, along
with the good growing conditions of the spring is utilized well
to ensure the green is in good condition the day the season starts.
In order to keep the green in good condition for the duration
of the season, the following basics should be followed:
- Rotate rinks on a daily basis
- Rotate direction for play on a daily basis
- Use of rink protectors where possible
- Potassium silicate & Primo Maxx assists in hardening the
plant
- Syringe watering - to keep the plant function during times
of stress
- Machinery rotation - rotate access to the green & how
the machines are used
- Good maintenance program (aeration, irrigation, nutrition,
cutting, rolling)
In the event that turf on the green either thins out is lost,
the following fundamentals should be observed:
- Raise cutting heights
- Avoid cutting stressed areas
- Additional aeration
- Additional fertilizer application, particularly Zinc &
Manganese
- Syringe watering
- Ensure wear areas remain flat
- Turf doctoring
- Reseeding
- Turf replacement
Record Keeping
The benefits involved with good record keeping are endless. Good
records allow Turf Managers to refer to their past work to see
what work for them previously, and to see what maintenance practices
were not so successful. Good quality record keeping shows that
a Turf Manager is well organized, particularly when it comes to
dealing with Committees. In the event that green conditions are
not up to expectations, record keeping can show reasons for this,
with particular reference to weather, over use of the green, or
lack of material that has available to the Turf Manager. In other
words good record keeping can be used as a tool to protect the
Turf Manager's reputation in the event of criticism. Although
time is a factor, the more records that can be kept the better.
Listed below are some areas that record keeping is critical;
- Daily diary (record abnormal inputs , applications & observations)
- Daily records of rainfall, temperatures, sunlight, soil temperatures
& soil moisture levels
- Fertilizer application records
- Chemical application records
- Root depths - to be recorded on a monthly basis
- Soil testing - showing effectiveness of nutrition program
- Tissue analyses - shows what plant is actually taking up from
the soil & foliar fertilizer applications
- Record monthly photos of the greens - allows comparisons to
be made from month to month or year to year
- Machine maintenance records - showing to Committee good maintenance
procedures and records, which can eventually assist in the approval
of new machine purchases
Summary
The management and preparation of bowling greens is complex and
challenging at the best of times. It is essential to have clear
objectives, implement regular and systematic maintenance programs
where all inputs are kept even and consistent, always remembering
good programs produce good results.
It is important to have confidence in yourself and stick with
what works for you, always remember there is never one method
that works for everyone, with this in mind it is important to
keep an open mind, and keep communication lines open with colleagues
with the aim of sharing information and methodologies in the maintenance
and preparation of your greens. Like managing most things, communication
is the key, the more positive communication that goes on with
staff and committees, the more effective the results will be and
the easier it will be to achieve the optimum outcome.
| Being observant is an import component of bowling
green management, this used in conjunction with a generous
amount of time spent on research and keeping records will
reflect the quality of greens that is being produced. The
better a Turf Manager knows his grasses, soils and environment
the better he is prepared to deal with any problematic situation
that may arise. |
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