Bowls Central

Sand Top Dressing – Friend or Foe? Soil Texture 5.

John — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 05:31:04 +0000

Sand Top Dressing - that ubiquitous and apparently simple greenkeeping operation indulged in by most clubs annually is actually a much more complex operation than most give it credit for. In this article John Quinn explains the mechanics of top-dressing. He explains what it can and can't do and why you must understand some soil science before top-dressing is considered.

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Soil Texture part 4, the Soil Texture Triangle.

John — Sun, 31 May 2026 12:09:41 +0000

So far on our investigation into soil texture we've discussed the problems of building sand castles, why you shouldn't let the Treasurer buy sand for you and a few other less important details like the complexity of sand, soil formation, particle size distribution, macro and micro soil porosity and we finished last time by looking at the famous Soil Texture Triangle

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Bowls Green Soil Texture part 3

John — Sat, 30 May 2026 09:35:45 +0000

In the first part of this series we discovered that the ideal bowling green soil (or rootzone) will be 50% space, 5% organic matter, with the remainder (45%) being made up of mineral matter, namely Sand, Silt and Clay. These are the 3 universal mineral components of soil. Part 1 finished with an explanation of the soil fractions, 5 of which were sands of varying sizes.

In part 2 we found out a little bit more about sand and it's behaviour as a drainage medium and we discovered a little more about how soils are formed. We finished by looking at the importance of sand particle shape and size in bowling green rootzones.

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Soil Texture part 2

John — Fri, 29 May 2026 05:22:45 +0000

Today we'll try to get a better handle on Soil Texture and discover how some of the soil fractions come about. In particular we will look at the complexity of sand, before getting a better understanding of how soils are formed in the first place. This will help us to understand the importance of sand in bowling green maintenance, but hopefully also to understand more fully, its limitations.

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Bowls Green Soil Texture part 1.

John — Thu, 28 May 2026 04:59:14 +0000

This subject is so important to the future performance of bowling greens that I would say it is essential for greenkeepers to understand this subject over any other.

The physical condition of the soil in the bowling green is the most important aspect of bowling green maintenance because it impacts every other aspect of green management. The physical properties of your soil dictate everything from drainage, nutrient availability and pH right up to green speed, green smoothness, consistency and ultimately whether or not the green performs to a high standard.

But what do I mean when I say Soil Physical Properties?

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Localised Dry Patch-a modern plague killing bowls greens

John — Sun, 17 May 2026 21:22:24 +0000

Soil sampling will reveal powder dry soil. Unsightly brown patches of turf start to spread over most of the green. The turf on these areas recedes causing a bumpy surface and in most cases the weakened grass will be taken over by moss. But what can be done to cure the problem?

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Persistent Moss Problems

John — Sat, 16 May 2026 09:56:12 +0000

LDP causes large areas and even whole greens to resist moisture. The soil has become Hydrophobic. Water will lie on the green surface for a long time and the soil underneath will remain powder dry and unable to support plant life. The result is large brown patches on the surface where the thatch eventually dries out so much that it becomes hard and brittle. At this point it will shrink to below surface level, causing large pans of low lying turf which of course affect the performance of the green to a level that is unacceptable. Temporary measures such as sarrel rolling and wetting agent application can help to get water into the green, but the water still wont adhere to the soil particles below making sure that most of the irrigation water runs straight through to the drains.

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Key Elements for Success with Natural Greenkeeping

John — Fri, 15 May 2026 12:51:00 +0000

As greenkeepers, we understand the importance of maintaining a healthy, vibrant and resilient green. In over 40 years of greenkeeping, however, I've noticed that a lot of what passes for greenkeeping has actually been very damaging to our soils, making it increasingly difficult to produce a good surface, reliably and economically.

A lot of greens are now difficult to maintain, exhibiting a host of common problems such as Localised Dry Patch, Moss Infestation, Excess Thatch, Disease, Thinning Grass Cover, Puddling, Bumps, Bad Runs and Dips

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Fixing low pH without Lime

John — Thu, 14 May 2026 11:08:02 +0000

As standard soil analysis offerings are generally obsessed with chemistry, a very low pH is often interpreted as a chemical imbalance, which, of course, it is. The question of why those acid cations are dominant on the soil colloid, remains unaddressed in most cases. Instead it seems that many advisers are jumping straight to the temporary, artificial correction advice to add lime, and as we have seen, for fine turf, that can be dangerous advice.

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CEC-Cation Exchange Capacity

John — Thu, 14 May 2026 08:42:51 +0000

You will often see CEC mentioned in passing on a soil analysis report, but what does this mean?

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