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Leather jackets damage

  • The green closed for 2022
  • Damaged by leatherjackets
  • Last play before closure
  • Ready to sheet the green
  • Volunteers sheeting the green
  • Heavy lifting equipment
  • Safeguarding the surrounds
  • Working on the green
  • Bring on the 'gear'.
  • All the right equipment
  • The old roller
  • Work underway
  • Supervisors
  • First cut.
  • More top dressing and seed in late September.
  • The pests are still around.
  • Starlings feast on emerging craneflies.
  • The weather pushed the egg laying to October and treatment went ahead early in November
  • Looking good as winter approaches.
  • Winter and it's white on the green.
  • Boughton-Under-Blean Bowls Club Leather jackets damage

Leather jackets which first appeared in number on the green in 2021, returned in 2022 and decimated the green to the extent that it could not be played on. All competitions ceased, league games and friendlies were played as away games wherever possible. The club is no longer allowed to use the chemical which controls this pest and despite using nematodes as nature's way to keep it under control, using these is time and temperature critical and consequently was unsuccessful. Volunteers were at the green at dawn and dusk to use water and sheeting to bring up the creatures. Even though thousands were removed, the green suffered badly.

On 15th August, contractors moved on to the site to start the work needed to restore the green ready for the 2023 season.

At the beginning of September, the green got a light cut and the recovery process can clearly be seen. October saw more work carried out and the green looks really good. Late October saw huge amounts of craneflies emerging from the green some two months later than usual. More nematodes were applied in early November and hopefully the nematodes will be doing their work on the new grubs.

As we head into Spring and the 2023 season, the green looks really good and the newly appointed green team under head green keeper Roy Piles are taking regular soil samples to check for the bugs. The irrigation system is serviced and should be more efficient for the season which will help with the eradication of the bugs.

With the 2023 season underway, the green looks as good as ever, but one of the checks revealed the presence of leather jacket grubs. The green team quickly got together and Nematodes were applied and the watering stepped up. This seems to have worked and the good news is that with the help of Bowls England, the club will be able to use the previously banned chemical which will finally eradicate this pest. The 2023 season was a great success for the green but not reflected by our results. The club hosted the EKBA and Heron finals and the green was complimented by many visitors. During the Autumn,  Roy Piles retired and Brian Gentry took over as green keeper, overseeing the work to over  winter  the green. His helpers attended the green daily and hopefully following the treatment for the leather jackets the green will be in great shape for the spring. At Christmas 2023, Bob Holliday took over as green keeper with Brian Gentry heading up his team of helpers.

2024 saw the green looking as good as ever. Credit to the green keeping team. New ditch sides were started to be fitted but the weather prevented progress being as rapid as hoped.