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