Magazine - VGA Turf Trial

By Dyson Appleyard in Bowls on 14th Jan 2010 16:30

In early December 2009 the VGA began work on the turf trial at Fawkner Bowling Club in Melbourne’s north.

The green chosen for the trial was a disused 7 rink green that was more weeds than anything else. It was originally a Bent green but has not been used by the club for many years. The green has a good irrigation system and an excellent soil profile. Once organized with the club’s greenkeeper Phil Grant and Fawkner BC themselves it was all go for the trial to begin.

With Rosamond BC trialing a seeded couch called Sovereign, we decided to trial another variety called Veracruz. This variety is used in the cooler states of America on golf courses and is meant to be able to handle the cooler climates and retain its colour during winter. It has never before be trialed on a bowling green or been cut at the height a green requires, so the only way to find out is through trials.

The existing green was cut down and poisoned then by VGA committeemen Dyson Appleyard, James Hood and club greenkeeper Phil Grant. Due to the surface being very flakey it was decided not to sod cut as it would have fallen apart, we also wanted to keep costs at an absolute low, taking the thought of a club with very little finances and seeing what we could produce from the worst possible situation. Once the weeds were killed we again cut the green then triple scarified, rotary hoed and fertilised the trial area ( approx 4 rinks ) The rest of the green was scarified to break it up. Thanks to Warren Maynard on that day for his assistance.




The first rink was the screeded for a basic level and seeded. This was in the second week of December, ideally we were looking at the first week in December but due to our own work commitments we couldn’t make that happen. The germination period for this grass is approx 8 - 10 days. First signs of germination were on the 8th day. From then on it really started to move.

On January 6th 2010 it received its first cut at 4mm. It received its second cut and a double roll on January 13th 2010. The rink is about 85-90% covered after just 6 weeks since beings seeded. The root depth is at 80mm which is fantastic after such a short period of growing. While at present there is some poa and weed visible in the plot we are planning to spray them out in the coming weeks.



More information especially after spraying will be available on our website. Head to www.victga.com

Read more articles in Bowls, by Dyson Appleyard or from January 2010.