Magazine - End of season renovations at Trent Bridge.

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By Steve Birks in Cricket on 29th Sep 2005 10:00

End of season renovations at Trent Bridge

By Steve Birks

We were able to start our renovations early this year, beginning in the second week of September, an ideal time to maximise the favourable soil and air temperatures for seed germination. We began by sweeping and cleaning off all the loose debris from the square and cutting it down to 5mm. We then scarified the square in three directions using a Graden set at 8mm depth, and cleared up ready for repairing the ends and overseeding.

The wicket ends were all repaired and re-levelled using about ten 25kg bags of Surrey's Supernatural Loam. Once this was completed we over-sowed the square at recommended rates using 50/50 blend of Barenbrug's Bargold and Barlady.

I do not usually cut the square again until the second week in October, once the new grass has established itself and the soil conditions are right for aeration. I begin our programme of aeration, using both the vertidrain and then the Groundsman pedestrian aerator to penetrate the surface to a depth of 125mm. It is important to provide a key for the new topdressing material to be worked into. We then topdress the whole square, again using the Supernatural Loam.

A similar process is also undertaken on all our practise net areas. We know that the quality and playability of our square and practise net areas next year is very much down to the success of this year's end of season renovations.

Read more articles in Cricket, by Steve Birks or from September 2005.

There are 6 comments on this article

1 Oct 2005 by Geoff P

Steve, do you overseed under the top dressing or on top. Is it to late to overseed now?

2 Oct 2005 by Anthony asquith

Geoff..On my tennis courts i overseed before topdressing..On the base ends by hand and 2-3 ways with a cyclone spreader..Once the sward is up at the 2-3 leaf stage..I do it again !!! With the rye`s i try to overseed as much as possible to acheive good take and density..Sowing too lightly could encourage "rye crowning".I`ve known some however apply 50% of seed before topdressing and 50% after...By this the plant won`t have to work as hard germinating and coming through the topdressing...However unless you have problems you need to rectify ie layering/rootbreak or you undertake hollow coring then only enough dressing is needed to minor out any irregularaties and give the new seed something to hold on to.Ofcourse you can still overseed with rye - It`s getting cooler now however there will still be sufficient enough warm soil temperatures and moisture available for germination..Las year i did an experiment on my trial areas and i actually got germination in december !!!! -Yes december.Have you ever thought about pre-germinating your seed???

11 Oct 2005 by Peter G

Anthony - I have tried pre-germination previously but it made ltlle difference. Waht method do you use? Thanks

11 Oct 2005 by Geoff P

I Have fine grasses (fescue, bent) on my cricket square and only a small percentage of rye's. It was sown some 12 years ago when that was the norm. Before the advent of the new dwarf rye type grasses.
I've heard the new dwarf ryes are very similar to the fine grasses but do not 'crown' and are tolerent of lots of rolling & close mowing.
I am thinking of changing to a dwarf rye, what is the best way to go about it & does anyone know of a good variety?

11 Oct 2005 by Anthony Asquith

Dwarf ryegrass is the only way to go for cricket purposes !!! The \"finer\" species of bent/fescue don`t survive well in a situation where heavy cricket loams are prelevant as the action of rolling will \"squash\" the life out of the \"finer\" plant species...They also struggle to root in such situations.Yes..Modern rye cultivars do tolerate closer mowing and are much finer leaved than that of the older cultivars that was available and no doubt they`ll keep improving.However the rye (in a cricket situation) is extremley hard wearing...Essential in cricket squares and ofcourse they`ll establish quicker and recover better than the \"finer\" species.I`ve used a few excelent cultivars over the last couple of years however i`m always changing due to improved ones being bred/available...I currently use bareine and bargold...Two excelent cultivars.

11 Oct 2005 by Anthony Asquith

Cont .....You`ll gain nothing from using bents/fescue`s on your square.

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