Sports Club News - Issue 39, April 2008

A Note from Nev

Neville Arathoon, Sports Maintenance Foreperson with Council Horticultural Services

"March was another hot dry month except for the last week where we got 38mm of rain all in one go, most of it went out to the bay as the surfaces are that hard & impermeable the moisture couldn't penetrate the soil.

The maintenance crew are working frantically aerating with the hollow tynes to try and open up the surface & allow the moisture in, as well as scarifying to dethatch whatever grass has survived the summer, we are also over sowing with a perennial rye grass which in conjunction with the winter grass that is sprouting will give us grass cover through the winter.

The majority of grounds have had fertiliser applied, the only thing we need now is a few showers every couple of days. Once we get a bit of leaf cover on the surfaces we will be able to top dress the poorer of the grounds & hopefully take out the bumpiness. We have some dolomite lime & gypsum on the shelves which we plan to apply when the conditions suit, these products will assist us in balancing the pH & breaking down the clay in some of the soils. We can anticipate a flush of autumnal weeds to start germinating soon, which we will monitor, & control as needed.

Good luck for your seasons." Nev

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Updated: 30 April 2008

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