Never Thought it Would be Fit

Well when the snow melts what do we get water lots of it.

The next three photos were taken on Thursday the 28th March

Still plenty of snow around and lots of water

The sheets had been on for a while when the snow came and I was afraid there might be some damage under them.

Bottom of square just soaking wet with some areas of standing water.

When I got the sheets off I found that some germination had taken place which is brilliant as the average temp for March in Leeds was 2 point something and the seed is only supposed to germinate at 5 degrees plus.

 You can clearly see where the grass has been drawn where the sheets have been.

How can grass germinate/survive in a pond?

Well I never thought the ground would be fit for rolling but by the time Saturday came it was at the top end.

 Well almost fit to roll but I had that urge to get on with things after so long.

 Although I have had the roller started once this year it took me nearly 2 hours to get it going I had the fan heater blowing on the engine to warm the oil up.

It is an old Petter diesel engine which is crank start and kills young men -never mind old ones- cranking. 

Please take note Mr Club Treasurer you are killing your groundsman!

(Some might say the sooner the better, maybe that's the bigger plan. Ill bet one thing though,  there will be a power start roller when I pack in -I bet the Council workers have power start Rollers)

Rant over!

 You can clearly see the weak areas,

I rolled some seed into the surface the photo below shows it better.

Seed in among the weak areas.

There was still tiny areas of snow under the sight screen at the bottom of the ground.

I cant remember many times I have rolled with snow on the ground.

Looking back just before I went off home Good Friday after around 4 hours rolling it was nice to have a soak in a warm bath then out to my twin daughters 30th birthday meal.

 Sunday Easter Day after loosing a hour in bed I arrived at the ground around lunch time and did another 4 hours rolling but still not getting to the very bottom of the square as I deemed it too wet 

I packed in at about 5-15 absolutely freezing cold. When I got home and watched the forecast for the week it said that Saturday night up the road in Bingley had been minus 6 degrees and nation wide had been the coldest recorded Easter Day.

Thursday this week I have the IOG Groundsmans Course and with a bit of luck it should be dry but very cold between now and then, which is good because we should be able to get outside and do the practical stuff and I will have time to prepare.

Another cold night forecast.

Not much grass growth.

Keep warm 

Hodgy