spreader. What this machine will allow me to do is to use very light application rates, as low as grammes per square metre rather than kilogrammes The hollow tining/heavy sand top


dressing has introduced the desired percentage of sand to the root zone and now we can concentrate more on building up the sand content on the surface, improving surface drainage and increasing green speed. With hollow tining we were applying around 8 tonnes of sand per croquet lawn (1000 sq metres) and 10 tonnes per bowls green (1400 sq metres) in two applications per year In theory, with the TY-Crop we can apply up to 14 tonnes of sand dressing over a season by light weekly/fortnightly applications with little or no surface disruption or interference with play. Time will tell whether the ends justify the means but I am very optimistic that this new topdressing maintenance regime will prove beneficial to surface and surface user. Watch this space. Our aeration programme this winter consisted of running the Earthquake machine through all the lawns in late November. This was followed a month later with ½ inch solid tine aeration to a depth of eight inches using our soil reliever and we pricked the surface to a depth of about 2 inches with ¼ inch needle tines, a treatment we will probably repeat in February and March. We have been maintaining height of cut since September at 6 millimetres, but have just raised it to 7 as the Earthquake has heaved the ground in places and some areas are in danger of suffering from scalping. We have had numerous infestations of


Fusarium over the last 3 months. All but one of the outbreaks we have treated with a heavy dose of iron and, though there is some scarring, I am delighted that we have been able to reduce our use of fungicides (and so is the club finance manager!). For the first time last year we moved over to a 100% liquid feed programme and the results were excellent. We have


Frit Fly


The Frit fly, Oscinella frit, is a small (2-3 mm long), shiny black fly whose larvae can cause damage to cereals and amenity turfgrasses. The larvae bury in to the stems and feed on the shoot tissues. On amenity turf, the symptoms are often first noticed as patches of unthrifty plants that become tan in


been maintaining a monthly foliar feed programme throughout the winter months consisting of a turf hardener, potassium and soluble iron, and this will continue to the spring. The croquet lawns and bowling greens open for play this year on Friday 13th April. If this spring is typical of recent ones then I am expecting dry cold conditions completely alien to encouraging growth and sward density. If this is the case then I suspect we will not have reduced height of cut to the 4mm we aim for by opening day, but this will be achieved as early in to the season as conditions permit.


Marking out and setting hoop positions for a croquet court is a time consuming task and we generally aim to have the hoop positions established by the beginning of April so we can identify damage in any critical areas, particularly those caused by foxes, and repair them before the lawns open. Our feeding regime for the summer will again be applied as a foliar feed with a cocktail of soluble urea, soluble potassium, soluble iron and wetting agent with the percentages and timings dictated by weather and soil conditions. For anyone contemplating turning to foliar feeding it is worth noting that, whilst I have had excellent results, feed has to be applied little and often and this is labour intensive and time consuming. We are lucky to have the manpower and machinery to carry out an effective programme, but you should look at whether you have the personnel and machinery resources before committing to a similar programme. Once growth is well under way we will commence verticutting all the lawns on a fortnightly basis. Again this is dependent on weather conditions and will be suspended during times of sward stress as happened for most of July last year. During last year’s drought I made a decision to stop our automatic irrigation almost entirely on the croquet and bowls and resorted to early morning spot hand watering using wetting agent tablet guns.


Not only did this prove to be very effective in maintaining a very consistent surface, both aesthetically and technically, but our water consumption dropped dramatically and meant we had plenty in reserve for the renovation period in September and October. As a result of the success of this enforced experiment I intend to do far more hand watering of ‘needy’ areas this year, rather than the somewhat indiscriminate blanket watering provided by our automatic overhead sprinkler system. If the predictions of drier and hotter summers to prove accurate, this kind of more bespoke approach to irrigation may well become the rule rather than the exception for all of us. Here at Hurlingham we have made it a policy to investigate any ways of saving, storing and using water in the most effective way. Any new buildings that are constructed will, if possible, have run-off systems that will direct roof water either to storage areas or to the lake from which our irrigation water is drawn. We are also looking at ways of adapting our current buildings to allow the same system to be utilised.


Back on the subject of the coming season, we will change the orientation of play on the bowls greens weekly throughout the summer and will also change the hoop positions on the croquet lawns at least once a month to prevent wear-paths, known as rabbit runs, from developing between the hoop uprights.


Exactly which parts of your best laid schemes you can carry out is dictated by the weather. With global warming now a reality we have to deal with, and weather extremes becoming common place, sports turf maintenance is becoming more and more challenging, and those challenges can be very daunting. I can however honestly say that I relish the opportunity to pit my wits, and the skills and endeavours of my team, against whatever Mother Nature throws at us in 2007 and onwards.


colour and may eventually die. Although these pests are commonly seen causing damage to bentgrass species of turfgrass, they can also feed on meadowgrasses and fine fescues. The small, off-white coloured eggs are laid on the turf and hatch in to legless maggots (larvae) that bore in to the plant. These larvae (up to approx. 3 mm long) increase in size through three growth stages (instars) and eventually pupate, generally inside the plant tissues, eventually emerging from the turf as a mature fly. The frit fly larvae over winter inside the grass plant and continue feeding in to the spring. Eventually the larvae pupate and the red/brown pupal cases can be found embedded in the plant tissues. The adult flies emerge during April-May, mate and the female lays approximately 30 eggs in to the sward. The eggs hatch after approximately four days and the larvae burrow in to the plants and begin feeding. There are


usually three generations per year with the adult flies emerging in April/May, June/July and August/September. In an affected sward, it is


difficult to see the larvae as they are small and pale in colour and live inside the plant tissues. However, affected turf generally appears unthrifty and unresponsive to nutrient input. The plants become yellow and tan-coloured and eventually die. Although all grasses can be damaged by the larvae of the frit fly, damage is most commonly seen on bentgrass swards. Damage caused by these pests is frequently misdiagnosed as fungal disease. Careful inspection of the sward using a hand lens or greater magnification will reveal the presence of the larvae and/or the pupal cases of the frit fly lodged in the base of the plants.


If an insecticide is used as part of a management programme, its timing should coincide with the feeding of the larvae and not


observation of the


pupae in the damaged turf. The product


should be used in accordance with the manufacturers’ label recommendations.


Dr Kate Entwistle, The Turf Disease Centre, Email: kate@theturfdiseasecentre.co.uk Tel: 01256 880 246


Article sponsored by: Home of the Spraying Mantis


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Golf courses, racecourses, sports clubs, local authorities, football and rugby clubs, schools and universities


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OF THE MONTH


pest


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