This is the APRIL installment of Horticulture Week's month-by-month guide to essential maintenance and management tasks for turf and sports facilities such as bowling greens, cricket pitches, football pitches, rugby pitches, golf, lawns and other recreational and fine turf.
All turf areas
- Check for disease activity and treat appropriately
- Monitor weed invasion
- Increase frequency of mowing and begin lowering cutting height
Winter games pitches
- Don’t worry about destruction if extra matches are run, it’s nearly the end of the season
- Do a soil analysis
- Continue divoting and maintaining an even surface
- Apply quick-release fertiliser
- Water if necessary
- Plan deep aeration for after the last game
- Increase mowing frequency and mow to 25mm for football and 35mm for rugby
- Ensure end of season renovation materials have arrived
Golf
- Renovate greens, include approaches
- Renovate winter greens and tees
- Brush or switch as necessary
- Mow greens to 5mm, tees to 8mm and fairways to 12mm
- Continue to aerate
- Top up bunkers
Bowls
- Mow to 6-7mm in case of cold weather
- Renovate, leaving two weeks before first match
- Brush or switch as necessary
- Roll lightly
- Top up ditch material
- Aerate with slit or solid tines
- Begin thatch control at end of month
- Clean ditches
Cricket
- Ensure square is ‘squared up’
- Reduce mowing gradually to 2mm for the square
- Roll to achieve a solid base
- Carry out a light scarification to the square
- Apply a spring fertiliser
- On the outfield measure out the stripes and mow to 15mm
- Repair bare areas and monitor weed invasion
Lawns
- Gradually lower cutting height to 6-8mm for ornamental use, 12mm for general and 25mm for amenity
- Hollow tine if not too dry
- Scarify and apply suitable feed
- Control moss
- Overseed bare patches and top dress
*Jobs should only be undertaken when ground and weather conditions are suitable and will vary according to location and may vary significantly from year to year. And remember that while the year nicely divides into 12 months, activities often overlap.
- SEE SALLY DRURY'S TURF TASKS MONTHLY CHECKLISTS FOR THE WHOLE YEAR
