We closed the pitch for the summer renovations on May 19. With Graham (the Lawn Doctor) we got 60 tons of sand to spread across the pitch. This helps to make the surface smoother and the bounce more predictable. As we progress into the season it should also help break up clays and encourage faster drainage. After the sand had been spread the seed was drilled underneath and we all held our breath for a bit more rain.

Two weeks on and we’ve got green shoots. You can see in the picture above that there are fine new blades of grass growing in neat rows through the sand. We need to leave it for another week to get strong enough to start mowing – and once we start we need to try to maintain 2 cuts a week. The thing that can’t wait is the watering. We’ve improved our irrigation set up year on year but it’s still an intensive schedule of placing and moving sprinklers. Our group has done a great job getting water down in one of the driest springs on record but we’d always welcome more volunteers to join the rota.

Last week we looked at adding more seed and topdress to areas that have that haven’t taken so well, as well as much needed general maintenance and tidying around The Old Spotted Dog Ground.

Our next workday is the regular last Sunday of the month session (June 29th.) We’ll be looking at some other jobs that we would struggle to complete during the season. We’ll need your help with painting, strimming, weeding, barrowing, seeding and so on. New volunteers are always welcome to join these Sunday sessions from 11am onwards.

Please contact us at grounds@oldspotteddog.org if you want to join in!