Fawkner Turf Trial

[Vic Greenie]

The photos are great, the trial looks good, well done.

[lynyrd]

Trial site received its second cut yesterday and a double roll. While bumpy it firmed up quite a bit. Rink is abou 80-90% covered after just 6 weeks since seeding. Has some poa and weeds through it but they will be sprayed out next week.
Roots are down at 80mm already. Green is being fertilised today... very exciting at the moment, leaf looks very fine, will be great to see once we eliminate the weeds in it

[lynyrd]

Trial site was double cut yesterday at 2mm. Starting to look very good, will be sprayed next week for weeds and poa, then scarified and topdressed... hopefully by mid march we should really see what the surface can look like. At present the signs are good, leaf looks to be fine enough for bowls.... but we won't jump to any conclusions just yet

[lynyrd]

Plot triple cut today at 3mm. Then sprayed with Monument to clear out weeds and poa. Trial rink will be scarified, top dressed then fertilised next week...
Rinks 1 & 2 were seeded today to determine if it is possible to establish a seeded couch green at this time of the year.
Will be interested to see what the result will be and see if it germinates in 8 days like our first plot. This time we have used Princess Seeded Couch in Rink 1 and Veracruz again for Rink 2
Updated Pics are available on our website www.victga.com

[Perko]

Does that green still have the yellow VFL sand?

[BIG BAWLS]

Does that green still have the yellow VFL sand?

nah is a loam profile

[lynyrd]

Plot was scarified, cut, triple rolled, top dressed and fertilised yesterday.... came up looking really well and handled scarifying easily... Hope to put a few bowls down on it in a few weeks. Updated pics on website later this week

[painkill]

Early stages but so far whats looking more promising between the two trial plots. You reackon by summer next year would give enough time to see which one the most suitable for the Victorian climate after going through one winter. Might be a few clubs keen to take the chance next season and give it a go maybe.

[mickpacholli]

Are there any plans to try couch seed trials within the normal bent renovation time window?

[lynyrd]

We have seeded two rinks 8 days ago..... and plan to do a small area at the end of this month to see if we can get a surface up this late in a season. Am going to see if we have germination in the two rinks today.... although I have heard from the club greenkeeper we had a blowout due to sprinkler malfunction so hope not too much damage to seeded area was done.... will inform all on progress of seed soon

[mickpacholli]

Cheers, if you blokes can work that one out it will give a lot of clubs the incentive to go couch

[lynyrd]

Green was cut yesterday one week after top dressing. It still has some sand on it but we were able to double cut at 3mm. Rinks 1 & 2 that were seeded 14 days ago have germinated... and are growing slowly due to the colder nights. Next weeks warmer weather will hopefully help. Rink 3 will again be fertilised next week as we try and get it up for a few bowls by early April. Weeds and poa in the plot are dying off thanks to the Monument put out a few weeks back... No effect on the grass at all from the spraying. At this stage the Rink is 12 weeks old. More pics available at www.victga.com

[Vic Greenie]

Very interesting, well done on all your efforts boys, i know its not easy due to the big work comitments at your own clubs during the summer.

[lynyrd]

At the moment i reckon if we worked full time on this site ( all work at this trial site is voluntary ) the green would have been cut and fertilised on a regular basis and would have been bowlable now... 3 months since seeding.... just waiting to see if the surface is fit for bowls... planning on sending a few down on the rink in 2 weeks... hopefully

[lynyrd]

Rink was cut and fertilised on Saturday... loking good. Surviving well at 2.5mm considering that it has never been cut that short... Trial seeded at the end of February looks like a failure though. Not enough warmth in the ground to get it moving. Seed germinated but never really did much after that. Will spray the entire area with Monument this week to clear out weeds and poa. Pics available soon on website