September top tips
- Renovate as you go
September usually brings a combination of warm weather and adequate rainfall, which can make it the ideal month to carry out ‘mini renovations’ of your pitch. This can be valuable if your work from Spring hasn’t yielded the results you hoped for, your pitch has been hit hard by summer drought or your pitch is more worn than is ideal from pre or early season use.
So to get your pitch match-fit, do the following…
- Some pitch grooming or light scarification, before you seed
- Use a disc seeder for optimum seed germination and establishment, even whilst your pitch is being played on
- Light applications of sand dressing (if required) so as not to impact playability
- Deep spiking
- Granular fertilisation
- Aerate appropriately
Usually when we reach September, even if it’s been a hot and dry summer, we will begin to see adequate rainfall that will soften pitches and moisten soil. These conditions offer you the perfect opportunity to double down on your aeration practices. You could do this through…
- Using a sarel roller, also known as a spiked roller
- Carrying out surface or sub surface slitting
- Carrying out solid tine aeration
If you’re lucky enough to have an array of equipment or a generous budget you could do a mix of all of the above!
The warm weather and decent rainfall anticipated in September makes it generally a good month for grass growth. However, at this time of year grass plants will begin to divert their energy from largely top growth to root development (to prepare for winter and the stresses to come). If conditions allow timing your aeration appropriately to take place in September will be a big helping hand to encourage a healthy root system by the time the winter months arrive.
- Applying your fertiliser
We know budgets can be tight and that for most grassroots organisations you can’t afford more than two or three applications of granular fertiliser a year. Make use of slow release or controlled release granular fertiliser to give your pitches the longevity needed between fertiliser applications.
This approach to fertilisation helps to provide your grass with the nutrients it needs to strengthen and harden throughout the autumn and early winter, preparing it for the stresses of winter weather and play.
If you can only afford to make one application a year it may be that doing so now is more valuable than in the spring when the grass plant is naturally geared towards growth and recovery.
Seek advice from suppliers with BASIS – FACTS (Fertiliser Advisors Certification and Training)
- Sharing your site
We know that many of you will share your pitches with cricket teams in the summer months, and that their season will typically come to a conclusion by mid-September. This can be a great opportunity to share renovation equipment with your cricketing neighbours, as they will be renovating their squares in the weeks following their season’s end.
As early as is possible you should aim to increase the mowing heights to 30-40mm on shared areas (outfields). These will have been mown between 15-20mm to create the appropriate playing conditions for cricket. However, mowing at this height stresses grass, which encourages certain weeds, undesirable grasses and disorders. It’s therefore really important to return the area to winter pitch mowing heights as early as you can, to allow the grass to recover before winter dormancy.
- Dealing with Red Thread
The combination of a dry summer and slowed grass growth, followed by early autumn rain and a flush of growth, can lead your grass to demand a high level of Nitrogen come September. If it’s also a while since you’ve applied any granular fertiliser, this combination can leave your soil nutrient deficient. Nutrient deficient soil alongside the temperatures we normally see in September can lead to the emergence of Red Thread.
Red Thread is caused by a fungus that lives in your turf but may appear on your pitches in these conditions. As its’ name suggests, it is characterised by red or pink-ish circular patches. Fortunately, the severity of this disease is usually limited to impacting pitch appearance, but in some cases it can thin grass cover.
Changes in the weather as we move further into autumn will limit the spread of the disease. With a few weeks’ patience, you can expect it to grow out and be mown away. However, if you have a more severe case or want to limit the impact on the presentation of your pitch, application of a fertiliser containing Nitrogen is generally the only treatment necessary to quickly deal with the disease. Depending on your fertiliser regime, this could be part of your usual Autumn programme or a supplementary application of conventional granular or liquid fertiliser.