This is the JUNE installment of HortWeek's month-by-month guide to essential maintenance and management tasks for turf and sports facilities such as bowling greens, cricket pitches, football pitches, rugby pitches, golf, lawns and other recreational and fine turf.
All turf areas
- Check for disease activity and treat appropriately
- Watch for pests and control when necessary
- Control weeds
- Mow regularly
- Winter games pitches
- Irrigate regularly
- Overseed areas that fail to thicken
- Lightly top dress any remaining uneven areas
- Apply a balanced fertiliser
- Mow regularly to 25mm for football and 35mm for rugby
- Paint goal posts or replace
- Order line marking paint
Golf
- Mow regularly
- Irrigate regularly
- Aerate greens with slit tines
- Groom greens and consider lightly rolling to increase speed
- Mow greens to 5mm, tees to 8mm and fairways to 12mm
- Early in the month control weeds on fairways if necessary
- Divot fairways
Bowls
- Apply summer feed in the first week or so
- Verticut and groom regularly
- Aerate greens with slit tines or sarrel roller weekly
- Spike using solid tines to a depth of 50mm every second week
- Irrigate regularly
- Mow to 5mm
- Change rink positions regularly
- Control thatch
- Watch for dry patch
Cricket
- Verticut
- Prepare wickets well in advance
- Mow square to 2mm
- Repair footholes
- Irrigate and roll
- regularly
- Mow outfield to 12mm
- Control weeds
- Apply balanced fertiliser towards end of month
Lawns
- Water if necessary and if no drought orders in place
- Mow 6-8mm for ornamental, 12mm for general and 25mm for amenity but increase all heights during
- drought
- Apply suitable feed but avoid scorching
- Overseed bare patches and top dress
- Control weeds
- Change position of benches and other furniture to avoid wear
*Jobs should only be undertaken when ground and weather conditions are suitable and will vary according to location and may vary significantly from year to year. And remember that while the year nicely divides into 12 months, activities often overlap.
- SEE SALLY DRURY'S TURF TASKS MONTHLY CHECKLISTS FOR THE WHOLE YEAR
