Bowling Green FAQ 19: Fertiliser causing skin irritation.

The fertiliser which has been applied is irritating some of our bowlers’ hands. What can we do?

This can occasionally occur when a fertiliser has been applied to a green and hasn’t yet been adequately washed into the surface. For the immediate term, any bowler, if they are concerned should ask for advice from a pharmacist or their doctor. The use of a hand cream to help moisten and sooth irritated skin might be considered, whilst for future fertiliser applications and for a few days after each application it may also be suggested that players rub a suitable barrier cream into hands prior to play and then thoroughly wash them afterwards, followed by the application of moisturising / rejuvenating hand cream. Many people, however, probably do some of this already as part of a daily routine.

When a fertiliser is applied it is usually beneficial to aerate thoroughly beforehand, with the use of a spike roller being especially helpful, as this produces thousands of tiny holes in the surface into which fertiliser granules can be more easily worked and washed into. Plan in extra time for the greenkeeper to be able to thoroughly wash in a fertiliser and allow the surface to dry before play starts. It might be that for the day of application, no play is planned until say early afternoon (no earlier than 2pm?) to give the greenkeeper a suitable amount of time and to allow the surface to dry adequately.

The use of liquid and foliar fertiliser applications might be considered, although these are at much lower concentrations than those applied with granular fertilisers and would require more frequent applications, especially where regular rainfall occurs as this would more likely wash out / leach most of the applied nitrogen where it hadn’t been taken up by the grass plant.

The use of a liquid / foliar feed to satisfy turf nutrition needs in the period between the main spring granular feed (say April) and the final late summer granular feed (say mid-end August to early September), to replace any granular feed at this time (say June / July) might be a suitable compromise between resource inputs for fertiliser application and consideration of player needs when handling bowls, but each club will need to decide which approach is best for their specific needs.