YOUR CLUB’S COMPETITORS WILL BE GREEN WITH ENVY!
Lawntech maintains a number of greens for bowling clubs to a very high standard, bringing unrivalled experience and resources to this specialised area of turf management. The grass that makes up a bowling green has far greater demands made of it than a domestic lawn, requiring much more frequent maintenance and treatment. When you consider how hard a green is worked during the playing season, with heavy footfall in high-traffic areas and the rolling action of the woods themselves, it’s no surprise that the grass needs a lot more attention than our lawns at home do.
WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO PLAYERS IN A WELL-MAINTAINED GREEN?
When speaking with players, they will tell you that there are three factors in a green’s performance which concern them most;
- SPEED: Generally speaking, the gap between a better player with more experience and the rest will be highlighted on a fast-running green. A slower-running green will hold the woods back and not allow the more technical shots played by those better players to flourish.
- TRUENESS: Defined by the green’s propensity to either allow the woods to run straight and true, or veer to one side. No matter how fast a green runs, an ‘untrue’ surface will negate any advantages the speed provides.
- SMOOTHNESS: Obviously, the term ‘As smooth as a Bowling Green’ has not come about by accident. Any lumps or bumps in the surface can cause a wood to bounce or veer away from its planned path.
With these important elements in mind, how do we go about creating the perfect playing surface to keep the players happy and successful?
MOWING
Like the greens on a golf course, a bowling green needs to be kept cut short to assist in true travel of the woods. The required height of 4 – 6mm obviously requires very regular mowing, at least 2 or 3 times per week depending on the club’s playing commitments. Naturally, when grass is being kept this short by being cut so often it will be stressed and require regular cultural intervention to encourage growth. This is one of the biggest differences between our regular, domestic Annual Lawn Care Programme and that required for a bowling green.
FERTILISERS
To keep that grass healthy and strong while its growth is being kept in check by the frequent mowing, Lawntech’s 12 Month Bowling Green Programme includes 15 gentle applications of Fertiliser over the year. This means that at the height of the year we are visiting every 2 weeks to add tonic to the green. It is important to note that while we are able to use slow-release granular fertiliser during the off-season, the crucial treatments which we make during the playing season itself (between April and September) are liquid, sprayed applications. These are preferred during the competition season as they do not affect play, unlike the granules which can stick to the woods and adversely affect the playing experience.
MOSS
While our domestic Annual Lawn Care Programme includes two Moss treatments per year, our 12-month lawn programme for bowling greens has evolved to embrace 3 Moss Control applications, spread between November and the following January.
A Lawntech-tended bowling green, 3 weeks after Renovation.
THE SOIL BENEATH THE GREEN
Apart from the need for the playing surface to be as flat as possible, which we’ll look at in the next blog post, Lawntech always advocates that the ideal sub-surface for a bowling green should have a minimum top 12” (30cm) consisting of a mixture of 70% sand and 30% loam. The main reasons for this are;
- This mixture allows for a free-draining green which is resistant to wear, and…
- This depth of substrate enables much deeper rooting of the grass than clay or native top soil, making for much stronger grass on the surface.
This has evolved as the ideal soil composition over many years, as in the distant past a blowing club would simply have used its own local soil as the basis of its greens. This must have been a long way from being ideal for all concerned, from the players to the poor souls who maintained the greens. Which brings us on to…
‘HUMAN RESOURCES’
The bowling clubs who engage specialist lawn care providers like Lawntech have all approached us because they recognise that upkeep of a playing green is a highly demanding, specialised task. While they often have talented and committed volunteers who can take care of the labour-intensive mowing, they seldom have the experience, expertise and equipment which we can provide to elevate their greens to National Competition standards.
RENOVATION AND MECHANICAL TREATMENTS
Regular mechanical treatments help keep bowling greens in tip-top condition.
In our next blog post, we will be looking at how Lawntech carries out Bowling Green Renovations and mechanical treatments as part of a regular maintenance programme for bowling clubs. If you are involved in a bowling club which might benefit from Lawntech’s expertise and experience, we would be delighted to hear from you. Feel free to use the Contact page on our website, email info@lawn-tech.co.uk or call us on 01722 744300. We will be happy to help in any way we can.
