I look after a small green which has a high level of annual meadow grass, I am hoping to improve the quality and speed of the green by increasing the amount of fine grasses, we don't have an irrigation system at present so am finding over seeding very difficult, I will look mainly to the end of season work, the question is which species to use Bent, Fescue or a mixture?
I was planning overseeding with Bent during season, and renovating with Fescue at the end would that be a sensible option?
Any advice appreciated!
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26 May 2011 by Zippy
Do you have a regular verticut regime in place ?
Automated irrigation systems can lead to an increase of annual meadow grass as any AMG seed that gets blown onto the green gets a nice regular supply of water to germinate and establish itself, so it is essential that before thinking about sowing new grass that the AMG is controlled by mechanical means.
If it was me I would only over seed heavily at the end of bowling season after a thorough scarify as part of the autumn renovations and then let this grass establish over the winter and then verticut through the summer every 7-14 days to control the AMG.
Have you looked into using a product called 'Rescue' designed to tackle this very prob at the end of the season.
Used in conjunction with EOS renovation and overseeding with seed of your choice. May be worth considering, fully ratified by bowls england for this purpose. It is expensive but will prob last for 6 treatments if your green is average bowls size.
I think you should first I.D the reasons why AMG has invaded the green. It can often be due to mismanagement (I am not accusing you of that by the way). High applications of fertiliser, compaction, thatch and too much water can all encourage AMG.
Implement programs which will decrease thatch and increase air exchange. This will naturally increase root growth and beneficial bacteria that support the soil food web and create a solid foundation in which to encourage the finer grasses while making life more uncomfortable for AMG.
I am not sure Rescue is your answer, since AMG fines down and develops perennial sub-species with years on close mowing mangement. Rescue targets broad-leaved grasses such as rye, yorkshire fog and even some bents.
KB
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27 May 2011 by johnh
There are a tremendous range of species and cultivars available for over seeding greens. The ultimate choice will depend largely on the characteristics of the root zone and the environmental pressures both natural and imposed.
Many older greens are predominantly populated by bent grass and annual meadow grass. Newer more recently constructed greens may have combinations of fescue and bent with small amounts of annual meadow grass. Then we have the few examples with fescue dominated greens.
The characteristics of a green will to a large degree dictate the success or failure of establishing new grasses. Poor drainage very low cutting heights and heavy use will not favour the highly desirable fescues.
It is very important to recognise the need to improve the conditions within a green if seeding is to be successful. It is also important to recognise the limitations imposed on the grasses within a green if very low cutting heights are imposed.
The fine fescue range offer tremendous advantages, combinations of chewings and slender creeping red fescue establish rapidly compared to bent grass. This is primarily because of their larger seed size.
They provide high shoot density low input requirements and relatively consistent growth patterns. They do not however fair well in wet heavier greens or under very low mowing heights (below 4mm).Fescues also benefit from less surface disturbance and regular light top dressings.
Modern bred bent grass is still the choice for older poorer draining greens and does compete relatively well in poorer conditions and under low mowing heights. Bent grass is very small seeded and can be difficult to establish. It certainly requires relatively high soil temperatures to germinate. There are of course a range of bent grass species all with different input requirements. Iwould recommend those with low N requirements (A.capillaris,A canina) .It probably makes sense from a practical point of view to use a high qulity bent fescue combination especially mid to end of season.This allows for higher seeding rates and therefore ease of application.pure bent can be used but as stated it is very temperautre dependent and is not usually suited to Spring seedings. you can obtain greens mixtures with higher proportions of bent and reduce the seeding rate.Hope this is of use.
Thanks to all for your advice, I will try and answer some of the questions & give more info
I look to verticut at least fortnightly, and more if the grass is seeding,There is some compaction (clay based area)
I havn't looked at Rescue
Funds aren't to bad for a small club and I do have the trust of the membership,Thatch seems to be about 1/2 inch
I spike with a sisis autoturfman I have hollow/pencil/chisel, & solid tines only purchased machine Nov10 so not much prior to then,and too dry since mid March
I use a Dennis ft510 with verti/sorrel & brush and sorrel when conditions allowThe green is very undulating and has suffered from dry patch
I use h2pro for wetting
I have a pedestrian sprayer so can use to apply fert & chelated iron
The green has six teams playing on it and the season is due to finish the first week of Oct
I am tempted with a little window at the start of Sept, thinking of hollow coreing, scarrify with graden or Rota rake seed (mix) and topdress so seed has time to germinate
Any knowledge I do have has been picked up from reading the threads on theses pages so please don't hesitate to give further advice or put me right on my mistakes
thanks again
Regards
Dave
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