Technical


limited experience of the members that carry out the tasks.


“


Often in short supply are calcium, one of the most important elements for healthy plants and nutrient availability, and magnesium


The demand for improved surfaces has led bowling clubs and contractors to look for new ways to provide excellent results on a limited budget. They have started to look at all aspects of plant health, the soil chemistry, biology and physical structure required to provide a better playing surface without the need for hollow coring and frequent disruption of the surface.


Soil Chemistry


Over twenty years of conducting soil analysis of bowling greens has thrown up some common problems. Very often, levels of available and total phosphate and iron are excessive, they have been over applied to make up for deficiencies in other nutrients.


Often in short supply are calcium, one of the most important elements for healthy plants and nutrient availability, and magnesium. If pH is


too acidic, i.e. below 5.5, then calcium carbonate CaCO3


may be applied to add calcium


and raise pH. If the pH is at an acceptable level, then calcium can be applied as calcium sulphate CaSO4


which will not significantly raise pH.


Magnesium may be applied as Kieserite 16% MgO.


Ideally, the base saturation ratio between Ca:K:Mg for optimum nutrient availability should be about 7-10:2:1, with magnesium greater than 60ppm. These elements are the cations that form the greater part of alkaline or base ions in the soil. On your soil analysis, the above ions should equal more than 75% of the total base saturation; if the figure is lower, then the elements should be added to get the above ratio.


Calcium and magnesium in greens grade granular form is relatively inexpensive and can be added at the time of autumn or spring renovation. As a rough guide, 150kg of CaSO4


Llantrisant Bowls Club eleven weeks after the start of renovations and, below, how it looked on 1st September before renovations.


Photos by Absolute Grass Care


Bowling Green Case Study


Llantrisant Bowls Club, Rhondda Cynon Taff


Supplied by Christian Page and Mark Harper of Absolute Grass Care


“We took on the contract at Llantrisant Bowls Club on September 1st 2015 and, as you can see from the picture left, it was suffering from fungal dry patch and severe wear, with many bald patches on the ends. Drainage and disease was made worse by a thatch layer up to 5cm deep across the entire green.


Phase 1 of the autumn renovations commenced by scarifying to a least 10mm to clean the surface, we solid tined to 100mm and sarrel rolled two ways. We conducted a chemical soil analysis, which indicated levels of calcium and magnesium were very low, whilst phosphate was excessive. We brushed 150kg of greens grade gypsum CaSO4


& 50kg


of Kieserite 16% MgO into the surface and tine holes, before topdressing and, while the surface was open, we applied 150kg of


128 I PC AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016


TraceOlite (zeolite) to help improve the Cation Exchange Capacity CEC.


To degrade the thatch and clean up the rootzone, we applied Symbio’s Fungal Additive with compost teas to start the process of degrading the thatch levels and releasing the nutrients locked up in the rootzone.


Phase 2 of renovations started two weeks later with an overseed of fescue/bent coated with Symbio Mycorrhizal Seed Coat and an application of Symbio 5:0:28 MycoGro Fertiliser, which contains mycorrhizal fungi and phosphate solubilising bacteria to make the locked up phosphate available to the grass. This was followed by a light topdressing, especially on the bare areas, to cover the seed.


Compost teas applications and sarrel rolling continued on a monthly basis through the winter.


The main picture above was taken in early December after a cut at 10mm.”


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