Selecting grass seed for your cricket square
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Transcript of Selecting grass seed for your cricket square
Selecting Grass Seed for your Cricket Square
David Hodgson Practicing Groundsman
Kirkstall Educational Cricket Club
Local agent for Hurrells Specialist Seeds
Member IOG, YCBGA vice chair
Dedicated to quality
What are the options?
Bents and FescuesBents, Fescues and Dwarf
Perennial Rye GrassDwarf Perennial Ryegrass
Bents and Fescue
Advantages Lower fertiliser requirement Tolerant to drought - to
some extent Fine leaf Dense sward Relatively low maintenance Tolerant to close mowing
Bents and Fescues
Disadvantages Needs high germination
temperatures Slow to establish Not so wear tolerant Can be expensive Poor recovery Prone to disease
Dwarf Perennial Ryegrass
Advantages Low germination
temperature Rapid establishment Excellent wear tolerance Strong dense root system Responds well to fertiliser
application
Dwarf Perennial Ryegrass
Disadvantages Higher maintenance Greater fertiliser
requirement Sparser ground cover Not such a fine leaf Can be susceptible to
red thread
Selection your Ryegrass cultivars
Maybe site specificLevel of Cricket playedMay depend on type of loam Susceptibility of red thread in area
British Society of Plant Breeders STRI
Every year BSPB/STRI produce a booklet
Turfgrass Seed 2001
BSPB/STRI List
Shoot density Fineness of leaf Slow regrowth Visual merit Mean
Resistance to red thread
Cleanness of cut Winter greenness Summer greenness
Interpretation of scores
Slow regrowthThe list gives a high score for “Slow regrowth”.
Which is good from a mowing point of view however on a Cricket square you would want
the opposite “Fast regrowth” to help in the recovery of your pitch after use
Choose a mix of cultivars
One growing season is different from the next.
So one cultivar may perform better one season to another
A mix of at least two would be wise
Most seed houses would include three
Hurrells Mix for 2011
30% Cachmire 30% Margarita 40% FlamencoThis mix will establish quickly be hard wearing have a fine leaf, tolerate close mowing with good regrowth qualities
David Hodgson’s mix for 2011
40% Cachmire 30% Carnac 30% Sauvignon
As you can see I have chosen a different mix based on my experience
Kirkstall Cricket Club Work
Sprayed off pitch with Glyphosate 1st September
18 Days after sowing
Scarified and seeded 25th September
By 13th October we had this
100% Cachmire
In just 18 days last autumn
Thank you for your attention
David Hodgson and
Hurrells Specialist Seeds