WINTER CARE OF LAWNS

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22103, 27 May 1937, Page 12

WINTER CARE OF LAWNS

! OBSERVATIONS OF A ! GREENKEEPER CORRECT AND INCORRECT TREATMENT Correct methods of caring for lawns, grass tennis courts, and bowling greens during the winter cause much discussion among gardeners and sports club members. Mr A. Gray, secretary of the Canterbury Green- j keepers' Association, and groundsman at the Christ's College cricket grounds, has given his observations, based on his personal experience over a number of years, in the following article: "Much discussion has been heard of the best treatment of turf areas during the off season, and from personal experiments I have carried out on the Christ's College, cricket, grounds 1 have come to the conclusion that the practice of letting vlayrng fields, tennis courts, and lawns get too rank during the winter months is wrong, for the following reasons: 0 ,, 0rv "It is the aim and object of every lover of a good turf area to establish a good close sward. That can best be brought about by keeping the «rass well under control. If the grass is allowed to grow long and rank it offers a big Problem in the soring Where it is cut back hard m it loses the h:a hy green colour, and turns a sickly, yellow, leaving behind about an inch of hard stlbbte, -which takes weeks of hard work to get rid of. Again, if new seed an°d g top-dressing have been applied in the autumn, and the new grass allowed to grow too long,.the big check it gets from cutting added to the heat from the sun and hot winds, is too much for it, and the new grass just fades away, because the strength has gone to the top, and left the grass roots in a very weak conditlo an area such as a cricket ground which is used for football m the winter, leaving the grass long m order to protect the surface is, m Mr Gray s opinion quite wrong. The actual damage to the surface is done just the same, he considers, but the long grass acts as a camouflage, and the groundsman does not actually know what surface he has got until the grass has been removed. By keeping the grass in check he can readily see in wna\ condition his surface is, and act accordingly. . , J "Weed control is another important point," Mr Gray said. "With the grass cut reasonably short the weeds can be more easily seen, and steps taken to eradicate or poison them. But where the grass is long it is almost impossible to control weeds. They just keep on seeding and spreading. "I do not suggest for a moment that the grass should be cut unless conditions permit. It is quite wrong to attempt to cut grass when it is wet. Choose a good day and be sure to have the mower sharp, and m good order. The mower is very important. "At this time of the year I consider that all lawns should be cut with the grass catchers in use. It not only helps with weed control, but the bottom of the lawn is kept clean and the mower given a far better chance. Rollins: in Winter "I have been asked recently about rolling lawns during the winter, but personally, I am opposed very much to such a process as the ground becomes scaled and grass suffers as a result. I am a firm believer in scarifying (but of course this must be done in the autumn) in order to aerate the ground and the ground should be left open during the winter. The results from such treatment are amazing and are far more beneficial than the old methods of top-dressing with soil. The more knocking about the grass gets in the way of scarifying the better the result. A number are under the impression that only unevennegs in a tennis court, cricket ground, or lawn can be rectified by the rolling. This is altogether wrong as no matter what the weight of the roller is. it only follows the formation of the ground and any depressions in the surface are only made more pronounced. The correct treatment for hollows is either to strip off the turf and pack up and then replace the turf, or to put top-dressing to the required depth, manure it and resow."