What type of bowling green grass seed should I use?

This blend of fescues and bentgrasses works perfectly together to provide the very fine playing surface required on bowling greens and is ideal for use during end-of-season renovations. However, while this traditional bowling green grass seed mix has delivered proven results time and again, there is another option worthy of consideration, especially where there is a need to renovate the playing surface in as short a period as possible.

Grass seed for modern bowling greens

The quality, consistency and characteristics of specialist grass seed mixtures have moved on considerably in recent years, with new developments in breeding resulting in evermore specialist cultivars which add to the available toolbox of reseeding and over-seeding options.

With the global pandemic causing a delay to the start of the UK’s outdoor bowls season (and therefore, potentially, a later finish), it is likely the window for post-season renovations will be narrower than normal. Selecting appropriate cultivars to cope with these time restrictions could prove vital in ensuring greens are ready in time for the start of the spring 2021 season, so choosing the best grass seed for bowling greens will be essential.

Thankfully, Germinal Amenity has developed A8 Ultrafine Ryegreens – the ideal blend of two ultrafine perennial ryegrasses and a modern creeping bentgrass – to ensure playing surfaces are back to their best in as little time as possible.

The ideal bowling grass seed blend

A8 Ultrafine Ryegreens contains two of the most popular species for modern golf renovations, Cabrio and Escapade: both are exceptionally fine-leaved perennial ryegrass cultivars that are quick to establish and have fantastic wear tolerance. Their fined leaved nature enables them to blend perfectly into existing swards and they can both tolerate mowing down to 3.5mm.

Trials at the STRI (Sports Turf Research Institute) have shown that Cabrio is the finest leaved ryegrass that money can buy and we believe that it is well worth the investment, especially as it will germinate in as little as five-to-seven days in the right conditions, making it much quicker to produce new growth than most standard fescue/bentgrass mixtures. This speed of germination also makes A8 the ideal mixture for making fast, localised repairs during the playing season.

007 creeping bentgrass seed

A8 also contains 007 grass seed, which is arguably the best of the best of creeping bentgrasses. Germinal's 007 DSB has good all-round disease resistance and wear tolerance scores and also benefits from high shoot density. Its wide genetic base (007 DSB was bred from 24 different parent plants) enables it to thrive in a range of climates (from the heat of Morocco to the cold of Siberia) and has rightfully earned it the title of ‘Superbent’.

Compared to older creeping bentgrasses, 007 grass seed is able to survive and thrive on reduced nutrient inputs, a trait that enables it to provide excellent winter cover and to compete well against annual meadow grasses.

As well as providing rapid renovation results, A8 is also the ideal choice for remediating issues such as dry patch and disease scarring, both of which are likely to present a significant threat to the quality of greens this year as a result of reduced opportunity for maintenance during the spring and early summer.

Anyone searching for a bowling green grass seed supplier can also turn to Germinal for expert amenity advice – contact us today for support.