This is the AUGUST installment of Horticulture Week'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
- Be careful not to under or over irrigate
- Mow regularly but raise cutting height in droughts
Winter games pitches
- Open season
- Lightly top dress any uneven areas following establishment
- Keep moisture levels up with irrigation
- Aerate to encourage penetration
- Apply fertiliser, including liquid nitrogen feed to encourage density
- Mow regularly to 25mm for football and 35mm for rugby
Golf
- Prepare alternate winter greens
- Irrigate regularly with additional hand watering to dry areas
- Feed greens and tees if needed
- Lightly dress greens
- Watch for red thatch and treat
- Divot tees regularly
- Mow regularly
- Rake bunkers daily
- Reduce fairway mowing during dry summers
- Mow greens to 5mm, tees to 8mm and fairways to 12mm
- Clear ditches ready for thunder storms
Bowls
- Competitions will be at their height
- Rotate rinks and sides to accommodate high levels of play
- Apply fertiliser with high potash and iron to harden sward ready for colder weather
- Irrigate regularly
- Spike fortnightly
- Control thatch, weeds and moss
- Continue mowing to 5mm but raise cutting height if weather hot and dry
Cricket
- Verticut
- Continue preparing wickets to meet demand
- Aerate and scarify wickets coming out of use
- Mow square to 2mm
- Irrigate thoroughly and roll regularly
- Apply a balanced fertiliser if not already done
- Mow outfield to 12mm
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 during drought
- Change position of benches and other furniture to avoid wear
- Plan autumn renovation
- Order renovation materials and seed
*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
