On 9 June, Jose Ramirez, our awesome gardener, brought his hollow tining machine and tined the green. The machine put thousands of small holes in the green about an inch deep. During the summer the green gets drier and drier. As we bowl and walk on the green, it compacts the soil making it difficult for water, oxygen and nutrients to reach the roots of the grass. The tining allows for better penetration of the soil. Tining also removes some of the soil from the green to help level it. Jose made several passes with the tining machine over higher areas of the green.
All hands on deck.
After the tining was done, the green was cleaned by shoveling up the dirt/grass plugs removed by the tining machine and then lightly sweeping and blowing the green clear the debris.
Thanks to a small group of volunteers this cleaning was finished in a focused 2 hour work session. Thank you Janie and Judy Hillyer, Patricia Erwin, Cathy Dinnean, Janine and Phillip Andrews, Steve Harris, and Claudia Benton.
From the upper left clockwise: Steve Harris, Jose Ramirez, Janine and Philip Andrews, and Patricia Erwin with Janie Hillier.
The next morning our fabulous greenskeepers Janie, Judy Hillyer and Sarah Allday worked on rolling and blowing the green again to get it ready for bowling, while Claudia and Rolly Coe cleaned the ditch which was thick with debris.
This past Saturday, our BLBC neighbor, Jessica Phrogus, arranged for the First Saturday Urban Sketchers to visit the lawn bowling club to sketch. About a dozen sketchers arrived on a chilly morning and quickly found a spot and settled down began sketching the bowlers, green and surroundings. Many of our usual Saturday bowlers were in San Francisco for the PIMD Pairs Tournament.
Thanks to Annie Brillhart, Ginger Cheng, Cathy Dinnean, Bob Schwartz and Claudia Benton, who had a game with a roving lead and provided models for the sketchers. The sketchers drew entertaining pictures while commenting that the bowlers were so nice to each other and there were no swear words used. Good work bowlers! Below is a sample of the delightful artwork by the First Saturday Urban Sketchers.
Thursday morning bowling and gardening group is hard at work whipping the garden surrounding the lawn bowling green into shape.
Leslie and Sarah vs. the weeds
The Gardening Committee meets on Thursday morning at 10:00 am for bowling and then gardening. Our fearless leader and chair, Leslie Engler directs our weekly projects. Last week Leslie and Sarah Allday worked on oxalis removal in one of our flower beds to allow breathing and growing room for the plants. It is, it seems, a never-ending fight with the oxalis. Meanwhile, Donna Otten and Susan Jamart worked on deadheading the daises. Charlie McFarran mowed the grass surrounding the green. Ben Steinberg weed-whacked the edge of the sidewalk while his father-in-law, John enjoyed the sunshine and watching the lawn bowling game. Patricia Erwin, one of our awesome greenkeepers, and Phil Watson worked on getting ready for our semiannual workday by prefilling buckets with sand. Claudia Benton worked on cleaning the ditch surround the green getting ready for the Two Bowl Single tournament on March 8.
It is a lovely time of year to garden. Spring is fast approaching and the oxalis is in full bloom. The roses have been pruned and waiting for new buds. Flowers and shrubs need deadheading and are beginning to sprout new growth. The English ivy vigorously grows year-round on the fences surrounding the lawn bowling club and is frequently in need of pruning. The grass surrounding the bowling green is green and growing with our warm sunny days and rain.
There is a long list of gardening projects for the gardening group to attack. The Gardening Committee welcomes anyone and everyone on Thursday mornings at 10am for a fun morning of bowling and gardening. Hope to see you there.
Deep in the weeds, our Acton Street sidewalk c. 2018
As a quick reminder of how valuable this landscape gardening group is, take a look at our Acton Street sidewalk back in the days when jungle conditions prevailed. (2018).
On Sunday February 23, 2025 the Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club held the first ever Fourth at Four. The Fourth at Four is designed to provide indoor games, and enjoy our great clubhouse at 4 PM on the fourth Sunday of the month
About 15 fun seekers showed up to play games, enjoy tasty snacks, a glass of wine and enjoy each other’s company. The games were varied including pool, darts, Dominos, poker and the most fun game of all Crokinole. If you have never played or even heard of Crokinole, join us for the April Fourth at Four on April 27, at 4 PM. A great time was had by all.
The Fourth at Four for March is cancelled due the biannual BLBC workday, drilling, sanding and seeding the green.
We promote the game of lawn bowling for the enjoyment of new and experienced players alike.
