TURF MANAGEMENT
R1 and R9 from OAS overcomes the small green , high wear challenge at Errol Bowling Club
here most bowling greens
W benefit from the flexibility of changing heads to spread the wear , the small green at Errol Bowling Club in Perth offers Greenkeeper Graham Craig no such luxury ! It ’ s down to the resilience and recovery of R1 and R9 seed mixtures from Origin Amenity Solutions ( OAS ), that despite the high wear and challenges of long dry spells of weather that the green is looking and playing better than ever .
OAS brings together four leading industry names - Rigby Taylor , Headland Amenity , Symbio and TurfKeeper . The group benefits from Rigby Taylor ’ s marketleading ‘ R ’ Range grass seed being added to their portfolio .
On his retirement from running his own thatching supply business , Graham took on the role of Greenkeeper seven years ago
– at which time the decision was also made to bring more of the green maintenance in-house . “ While the two jobs may appear contrasting , there were some principles of working with the water reed grasses that I could apply to operations here at the club , and when I needed advice on things , I called upon contacts such as Andy Menmuir from OAS who has helped me a great deal over the years to tackle the challenges of our high wear surface .”
The green , at just 1000m2 , is tasked with hosting friendlies and league games so to give Graham and the club the best chance of withstanding such traffic , Andy suggested a combination of R1 and R9 seed from the Rigby Taylor fine turf range . “ We ’ ve used this combination for the last four years ” Graham explains , “ with R1 oversown on the full green , and then a mix of R1 and R9 used for additional strength on the heads .”
44 GroundskeepingJournal . co . uk | July / August 2023