End of Season Top Dressing Completed - September 2026

Following the arrival and preparation of six tonnes of top dressing earlier in the week,

Using specialist machinery, the work included scarifying, deep coring, brushing, deep slitting and the application of fungicide. The aim is to remove old and dead material from the surface and open up the green so that fresh grass seed and top dressing can get down into the soil.

This gives the new seed the best possible chance to establish and blend with the existing grass, helping the green recover from the season and putting the foundations in place for next year.

Once the main machinery work was complete, the surface was worked and levelled by hand, with attention given to any imperfections that had developed during the playing season.

A big thank you goes to Avonmore for their continued support of Paul Garraway and his team, and also to John Tombs and Bill Alner, who were on hand to help with the work on the day.

For now, the green is being left alone for the next couple of weeks to give the seed time to germinate and establish.

As Paul put it afterwards, all that is needed now is a little rain and sunshine to help things along.

It is another good example of the amount of work that continues behind the scenes once the playing season has finished, all with one aim in mind, making sure the green is in the best possible condition when we return next season.

By Chris Wrenn (Phil Harmer) Victory Park Bowls Club
Saturday, 26 September 2026

The Work Doesn’t Stop When the Season Ends - September 2026

With the playing season coming to a close, work on the green is already moving into its next phase.

A delivery of six tonnes of top dressing 240 bags in total has arrived at the club ready for the end-of-season maintenance programme. Before the contractors can get started, there is the not insignificant job of getting it all off the pallets and moved into position alongside the green.

A big thank you goes to Paul Garraway, John Tombs, Kevin Hancock, Bill Alner and Phil Harmer, who have put in the hard work to move six tonnes of material by hand and get everything ready.

Greenkeeper Paul Garraway has arranged for Avonmore to carry out the end-of-season work, including deep coring of the green.

It is a good reminder of just how much work goes into maintaining the green throughout the year. Once the bowls are packed away and most of us move on to other things for the winter, the work certainly does not stop.

There is a huge amount of effort going on behind the scenes to maintain, repair and prepare the playing surface so that it is ready for us again next season.

The green is one of the club’s biggest assets, and keeping it in good condition takes time, effort and commitment well beyond the playing season.

Many thanks to Paul and everyone else who gives their time to looking after it.

By Chris Wrenn (Phil Harmer) Victory Park Bowls Club
Saturday, 26 September 2026

Ongoing green maintenance - July 2026

Andy Wright, one of the green maintenance team keeping the bowls green trim. A task carried out at least three times a week in the bowling season.

By Sylvia Pearse Victory Park Bowls Club
Sunday, 5 July 2026

Greens committee working hard on the edge’s - October 2022

This month our green committee has been addressing the falling banks leading to the ditches. ROECHLING, has donated a large quantity of industrial thermoplastic called play-tec.(https://roechling.com/uk/industrial/materials/thermoplastics/special/play-etc), which has been cut and spliced to form a solid edging joint which is being fixed to the concrete base. They will be fitted to 3 sides of the green. The club wishes to thank Mike Knowles and Darren Jones for making this possible.

By Sue Nicholls (Club Secretary)Victory Park Bowls Club
Thursday, 27 October 2022