Mark Hunt’s Weather Assessment 6th May – 10th May 2010
Well, the May Bank Holiday (U.K.) has gone for another year and wasn't it a bracing day with gale force Northerly winds, my local reservoir looked (and felt) more like the North Sea and I was torn between my fishing tackle or my boogy board for a moment when I saw the size of the waves! Most of England including the East / S.East (for a change) got a good drop of rain and although it was chilly, this will have helped alot with areas not receiving irrigation.
The last few days have got progressively milder because the wind has dropped and we have cloud cover at night, so soil temperatures are rising at present. However, this isn't going to last, I'm afraid, as another cold front is presently on it's way toward the U.K. and Ireland and is predicted to reach us for the early part of next week, swinging the wind around to the East. So the outlook is continuing cool till the end of next week when, if everything progresses as planned, the wind will move round to the S.West and bring milder, better growing conditions again.
Incidentally, my bet is that the well publicised threat to air travel posed by the Icelandic Volcano will remain an issue across Ireland and the U.K. till the latter part of next week when the wind direction will shift it out into the Atlantic.
The outlook isn't completely bad (from a grass perspective that is) as we'll be getting another drop of rain, this time coming in from the East and due to affect the East / S.East of the country Friday p.m. and Saturday. Rainfall for Ireland will be limited once Thursday’s showers move out of Cork / Waterford, S.Wicklow and the outlook here is dry, but cool.
Disease levels are low, although there is a little Fusarium doing the rounds and plenty of plant-parasitic nematode activity I'm afraid, due to the dry April highlighting any damage present on grass root systems. Fertiliser-wise, it's tricky, but I'd suggest light foliars whenever possible and, if the weather stays on track next week, granular applications before the arrival of milder, wetter conditions will provide good growth, if it's required. The annual Poa seedhead flush continues merrily on, but the perennial Poa is slow to get started this year making management tricky as the flush won't be short-lived and easy to judge / manage.
For a summary of the spring weather, please click the link below.
 Early Spring Weather Summary
Mark Hunt
Technical Director
Headland Amenity Ltd
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