Bank Holiday Monday- A Good Day for Rolling

Bank holiday Sunday it rained just about all day in Leeds stopping over night the ground conditions were ideal for rolling. I rolled three pitches, Wednesdays Uni, a practise one and Saturday's 2nd team one all in all around two hours rolling. 

  On my arrival sunny but still cold.

After rolling I got the Sisis, Rota-Rake out and verti-groomed three pitches in the middle of the square it is a long while since I have had chance to do it so I took advantage of a dry day and got to work.

Above you can see the the Verti-Groom blades I had just fit ready for the job.

Look closely and the light areas are rye grass crowns which had survived from last season and were beginning to flower -seed- they look just awful. I had been cutting the square at 18mm through out the spring in order to give it some protection from all the traffic it has to cope with. I think that it has allowed the rye grass to mature and get course- it is a case of "not being right for being wrong".

Above is a patch of annual meadow grass -Poa Annua- which is a weed grass -very shallow rooted- and seeds 12 months a year

Above a Rye Grass crown.

Looking across the square at the three pitches I had groomed.

This is the end of the pitch I will use for the two's on Saturday I have some blocks to put in first -Why do cricketers dig such a deep block hole? and why do wicket keepers scratch a line back from off stump, anyone?

Bank holiday Monday and a lot of planes in and out of Leeds Bradford airport.

I completed my days work by applying a bag of 11-5-5 fertiliser and some "Greenmaster Blade" to 4 pitches I have not used this product before and wanted to try it, so I only treated the 4 then I can compare.

The forecast is for unsettled week so I think the fertiliser will was in OK.

Hodgy