I recently attended a demonstration of a powered rotary tractor mounted brush system at Oswestry Golf Club following an invite by Matt Lewis sales manager for Charlies Groundscare, Welshpool.

Matt said this product is a popular investment for golf clubs in their quest to deal with worm cast problems out on the course, while at the same time using it to help improve the sward quality and presentation of their courses.

I was introduced to the director of golf, Neil Brogden, and the course’s HG Gary Barnfield, who were keen to see the machine in action. During the demo Matt demonstrated the different ways the brush could be used, using it on the club’s fairways and tees. 

They were particularly keen to see if would help the removal of worm casts as they have quite a severe problem of casting worms on certain areas of the course. 

Matt presenting the machine to greens staff and members 

The brush  made an impression on the turf professionals in attendance and they said they could see the benefits of owning one while comparing it with their own current SISIS Flexibrush system.

They said that the static brush was prone to clogging when used to brush worm casts, but generally happy with what the brush offered in helping maintain the course. However, they were keen to see what this powered version could do for them in their quest to continually improve the aesthetics and quality of their golf course. 

The Top-Brush 6000 has three independently adjustable brush units. The hydraulically powered brushes float to follow contours and can be rotated in either direction. The Top-Brush is sold as being duitable for disease control, general surface preening, pre-cut preparation and the brushing of top-dressing materials. 

Static SISIS Flexibrush system 

The working width enables large areas to be brushed quickly. Its folding wing sections make for easy transport and storage. There are a range of hard and soft brush types available. The unit comes with quick height adjustments and the floating and pivoting wings handle undulations.

Brushing fairway 

Also, the brushes can be altered to run in different configurations and rotate in opposite directions, offering the user different brushing techniques. You can use this machine to brush debris in one direction allowing you to clean fairways, tees and greens of surface debris.

You can also alter the depth of the brush so it can offer different brushing activities. I was certainly impressed with the versatility of the machine and the fact it can be used in different ways to help groom the sward, clean the surface and disperse topdressings and remove the dreaded problem of worm casts.

This machine, at around £20K, is a significant investment for any sports club. However, when you weigh up all the different ways you can utilise this brushing system and more importantly use it on a regular basis, it can then become a cost effective piece of equipment. 

Its effectiveness on removing worm casts efficiently is what is making this brush a popular tool for golf courses, especially now we have little or no way of controlling worm populations. The trick is to use the brush as soon as these casts start to become evident and while surface conditions are still relatively dry. This will help disperse the worm casts, thus in effect spreading the cast into the playing surface and leaving a clean surface. Carried out regularly should help reduce the problems associated with casting worms.

There are many benefits of brushing your sports pitches on a regular basis:

• Presents an upright leaf prior to mowing
• Reduces worm casts and surface debris  
• Reduces leaf wetness  
• Thins out grass plant debris  
• Helps prevent disease  
• Presents / stripes the sward
• Increases air flow around the plant 

Cleaning a tee 

I personally think that this rotating brush system (and I know there are other similar ones on the market) will be an ideal tool for the removal and control of worm casts from playing surfaces in the coming years. 

Why control worms?

Since the removal of Chlorpyrifos and Carbendazim in recent years, the sports turf industry has lost its most efficient pesticide for dealing with worms - particularly surface casting worms. Since the loss of these products there is a significant problem of worm casts on fine turf playing surfaces.

Of the 25 species of UK earthworms, only 3 are responsible for worm casts. Worm casts form ideal sites for weed establishment, encourage turf disease, disrupt playing surfaces and attract moles. Casts are generally present in spring and autumn and in most soils with a pH ranging between 6.5-7.5.

Excessive earthworm casts are a worldwide problem on golf courses and sport fields when they disrupt the playability, aesthetics, and maintenance of playing surfaces. Casting occurs when worms deposit their soil-rich fecal matter as small mounds, called casts, on the surface these casts adversely affect ball roll, and muddy and smother the grass when smeared or compacted by tires or foot traffic.  

Understanding the biology and behaviour of earthworms we can use this knowledge to our advantage and get more reliable results in dealing with the problem of worms. We can take two approaches to this strategy; firstly we should consider discouraging worms by cultural practices and secondly we can try to use some soil conditioners that may deter worm activity such as the application of course sand top dressings.

Starting with cultural practices, the first thing that comes to mind is to remove the source of freely available food and that will involve collecting grass clippings when mowing and removing fallen leaves from surrounding trees in the autumn.

This is not always feasible on large areas such as sports pitches and golf course fairways but, if it is possible to 'box' the clippings, this will help reduce the severity of the problem. Secondly, consider improving the drainage of badly infested areas.

Worms need plenty of moisture to move around in, so drying the ground will help to slow them up. The third consideration is the soil pH (acidity) - earthworms prefer a neutral or slightly alkaline soil so, in some circumstances, we can discourage them by lowering the pH with careful use of acidifiers such as sulphur.

This is by no means an easy task and you would need to start off by having a soil test done and then taking professional advice from an agronomist, as the pH of the soil will also have a profound effect on the health of the turf.

The subject of worms and their control has always been a very emotive one. The humble worm plays an important part in the decaying processes within the soil, thereby speeding up the recycling of thatch and organic materials, making them available for further use by turf grass plants and other essential soil micro organisms. The aim should be to control the population of earthworms, keeping them at a level where they cease to be a pest. 

The advantages of having worm activity in the soil are:

• Break down organic matter to humus, so improve the soil fertility
• Improve soil structure
• Aerate the soil
• Generally only cast for around 6 months of the year - Early October to March
• Eat decaying leaf litter like grass clippings that would otherwise turn into thatch
• Improve surface drainage
• Increase the activity of soil bacteria in soils 

The disadvantages of having worm activity in the soil -bearing in mind that it is not the worms that are the problem, merely the effects of their casts, is that casts:

• are unsightly and numerous
• smear and cap the surface
• effect ball roll
• effect the performance of mowers
• can encourage weed seeds
• worms encourage feeding animals, such as foxes, badgers and birds.

However, the above cultural practices will only essentially reduce worm activity. We will still need to find the most efficient way of removing these resulting casts.

The methods widely used today are via physical methods such as brushing, dragmatting and caning playing surfaces on a regular basis. 
All these methods have been in the past quite labour intensive, however with the introduction and development of these new innovative powered brushes, we now have in our armoury an effective tool to help remove these unwanted worm casts. 

TurfPro will return on January 9th following the Christmas and New Year break.