Maintaining your Bowling Green保持你的保龄球绿色.doc

Maintaining your Synthetic Bowling GreenPrevention is Better than CureRemember that maintaining a synthetic grass surface begins long before the laying of the surface. It begins at the time of planning, design and construction. Design your installation to be free of total shade spots. Ensure your drainage is excellent. Always plan for the heaviest possible rainfall and be aware of any situation that could result in water running onto your green. Ensure retaining walls have their own drainage and dont let water seep onto the surface.The area where your bowlers step onto the green MUST be very well grassed or suitable matting should be provided. This will prevent dirt or mud being carried onto your green via players shoes. Regular MaintenanceRemove plant matterTree debris is the most common mess maker. Leaves, pine needles, fruit and seeds can block your drainage system or lead to algae growth.There are three methods of removal:1. Leaf rake and shovel. Its hard work and takes at least thirty minutes but is an effective cleaning method.2. Leaf collecting devices, such as the Aussie Clean Sweep and the Crowe Garden Sweeper - Available by contacting us. You may have to use a leaf rake in the corners and along the edges.3. Mechanical blowers will blow all leaves to one side of the green making it necessary to sweep along one side with a leaf rake. If the blower is used too closely to the surface it may have a tendency to blow sand out. Tips Clean your green prior to play as leaves that are trodden in or broken up are difficult to remove later.Clean your shoes before entering the green. No food or drink should be allowed on the green and, most certainly - No Smoking!Algae and Moss If you remove vegetation you will dramatically minimise the chance of algae forming. However, given the right environment, algae will grow on bare bitumen. If little black spots appear immediately treat the whole green. There are at least three commercial products you can use: 1. Path Free - a copper sulphate based product which, used to manufacturers recommendations, will kill algae and turn it brown. This may take 3 - 4 weeks. When the algae has turned brown, sweep the area and remove the algae residue from the surface of the green.2. Alto - a dichlorophen based product containing excess sodium hydroxide. Apply 70 ml in 20 litres of water per 100m (1 litre in 200 litres per bowling green). Alto is available from Green keeping and Nursery Supplies.3. The economical method is to purchase copper sulphate (blue stone) from a building hardware store. Mix in watering can or larger container at the rate of 500 grams of copper sulphate to 200 litres of water. Add 1 litre of a wetting agent and apply to the surface, ensuring it is well wetted. When the algae has been killed, broom off the brown tips and remove from the green.Consider a total spray once a year as a preventative measure, even if algae and moss are not evident. (Contact us about our annual maintenance service.) The settling period After your new green has been constructed, be a little patient in the interests of achieving a beautiful, flat playing surface. Your members will have experienced the long settling period with natural greens - this green will require a much shorter period but it still requires a little time to stabilise. We will benefit from your playing experience and encourage maximum use during this time as it helps to stabilise the sand in-fill.The Pro-Master bowling green surface is designed to work without any heavy maintenance after the settling-in period, and it should provide the required speed and performance with minimal watering, rolling and grooming. But for the first few months, follow these guidelines:Grooming Grooming (brushing) opens the pile which is desirable and loosens the top layer of sand, reducing playing speed. Groom with the mechanical broom three or four times in the first week to progressively improve the sand level and get it as even as possible. Its best to do this when the sand surface is dry. Any obvious high spots of sand can be either removed or dispersed to low spots. This operation requires some feel so restrict it to an experienced person who has been properly trained on the grooming machine. If your sand wont stay level use your grooming machine without its catcher to redistribute the sand and shift any high spots into any low spots. The groomer should be worked in all directions up and down, across and diagonally. By varying these directions the green can be prepared to perform in the direction required for the days play. The groomer should be set as high as possible and just low enough to pick up the high spots. Ideally, it should be half way between the highest and lowest sand levels. If the settings are too low it eventually will damage the surface - light grooming at the correct level is beneficial.After grooming, the sand near the surface is a little loose and the green will play a little slower. At this stage, a watering cycle will help to settle and consolidate the surface sand and the speed will increase. Watering will be necessary at least every second day during the first four weeks. (After that, give a light watering about two hours before play.)After the first week, grooming should not be necessary until late in the first year. Maintaining the sand level The initial sand levels will be a little high as the green is slightly over-filled to allow the sand to settle with watering, rain and playing. Your sand level will probably drop about 2 or 3mm below the fibre tips and that is approximately where it should be maintained. After one or two months, we will return to inspect the surface to determine if the sand needs removal or topping up, and to provide any further advice. Be aware that lowering the sand levels excessively will slow the green speed and make it very difficult to maintain an even speed. Once the right sand level has been achieved, aim for a target speed of 13-15 seconds by balancing watering (which makes the green quicker) and grooming (which slows it down). * Contact our office if you are unsure of the type and grain size of sand to use. Sand grains should be sub-angular, cleaned and dried. If you have incorrect sand, your surface will not perform correctly. Watering A feature of synthetic greens is a reduction in green speed during hot weather when the sand in-fill dries out and becomes a little loose. Watering prior to play will minimise this effect, but drying out during the course of the day can result in a slower green speed at the end of the day. The timing and degree of watering can only be determined by local experience, something which may take time to acquire. Watering the green during the day may be an option and certainly assists in keeping the green cool.Excess watering should be avoided. If the green is not kept clean of plant matter, excess watering will assist algae growth. Influence of climate The local climate will have a bearing on the playing characteristics of the green. This varies from club to club depending on wind exposure, mean temperatures and rainfall. How you groom and water will depend on the prevailing weather conditions, the settling down progress and the immediate play requirements. Good green-keeping judgment is still needed, even with synthetic grass. Rolling It is essential to use rollers to achieve an even surface but, excessive rolling will accelerate the green speed beyond what is normally acceptable to club bowlers, and in the long term can damage the synthetic fibre. You should only roll the green (mostly diagonally) every second day f