New fertiliser recycles battery waste

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New fertiliser recycles battery waste: Battery waste is helping greenkeepers in the UK to improve the health of their turf, thanks to the launch of a new liquid fertiliser product.

ZM-Grow™ extracts zinc, manganese and sulphur from used alkaline batteries to create a unique fertiliser for a range of crops, including amenity turf.

New fertiliser recycles battery waste

With limited recycling options for alkaline batteries, the process is not only helping greenkeepers to be more sustainable, but also reduces the risk of toxic substances contaminating groundwater and the environment.

Johnny Beck, Agronomist at Agrovista Amenity, said: “In excess of 10 billion alkaline batteries are manufactured in the world each year, and just one battery can contaminate more than 160,000 litres of drinking water, should it not be disposed of correctly.

“ZM-Grow is making a real difference in overcoming this problem. It applies unique ‘clean’ technology developed by Tracegrow in Finland and is thought to be the only process that can extract micronutrients from batteries to the necessary purity for fertilisers.

“Following trials at STRI over the summer, we’ve been able to launch the product at golf courses across the country, providing our customers with a highly ecological, organic fertiliser. Turf nutrition is so important, so this product really is a double win!”

Maintaining optimum levels of micronutrients is vital in promoting the growth of strong, healthy, disease-free turf. Manganese contributes to improving nitrogen uptake and photosynthesis, whereas zinc boosts cell elongation and sugar consumption.

Combining these micronutrients with protein-building sulphur gives greenkeepers a ground-breaking product that promotes a resilient and healthy sward.

Leigh Powell, Course Manager of Windlesham Golf Club in Surrey, said: “After conducting soil tests, we found that our root zones were consistently deficient in micronutrients, with manganese being particularly low.

“We chose ZM-Grow as a regular foliar top-up to correct the deficiencies, as it ticks a lot of boxes in terms of sustainable practices and inputs.

“Windlesham Golf Club is committed to challenging and reducing the use of non-sustainable products, so we are delighted that a fertiliser is available that addresses this agenda, whilst also supporting our operational needs.”

ZM Grow is distributed in the UK exclusively by Badger Crop Nutrition and is retailed by selected partners including Agrovista Amenity.

For more information, visit https://www.badgercropnutrition.co.uk/about-zm-grow

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QuadChip a hit for Tai Tarian

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QuadChip a hit for Tai Tarian: Tai Tarian are one of the largest social landlords in Wales, responsible for over 9000 properties across the Neath Port Talbot County Borough.

A dedicated Arb team make up one of seven in-house grounds maintenance teams, looking after the borough’s green spaces. With over 7000 trees under their remit, a QuadChip 160 from GreenMech is keeping the team on track, providing ultimate flexibility for kerbside working.

QuadChip a hit for Tai Tarian

Martyn Davies, Senior Neighbourhood Coordinator, spearheads the team which was set up in 2012. “The very first job was to source the machinery we were going to need to cope with the variety of tasks of materials we were going to be handling. Access when turning up to narrow car-lined streets is one of our biggest headaches but having seen the full 360o turntable on the QuadChip 160, we quickly decided it was the right chipper for us.”

With the majority of domestic tree works taking place in restricted-access and/or kerb-side locations, the manoeuvrability and flexibility of the QuadChip sees it in use five days a week. “With the QuadChip, we can turn the chipper 90o to the road and bring brash from the gardens of properties and feed it straight into the chipper, with the chips going straight into the back of the tipper – it’s brilliant! We then recycle this material around trees and put it to community use, creating pathways and borders.”

So impressed with the versatility it delivers, Martyn has exchanged the chipper like-for-like three times, taking delivery of his newest model in January 2020 from their local dealer, Powercut (Wales) Ltd. “The back-up support we get from them is fantastic and was another crucial factor in why we chose this machine.” Final word from Martyn, “As we now embark on a new tree planting programme, the workload for the team is only going to increase, but we’re safe in the knowledge that with the QuadChip we’ve got a robust and reliable chipper at our disposal to tackle the tasks at hand.”

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Greenkeepers keen to maintain course

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Greenkeepers keen to maintain course: Parkview Golf Club’s green-keeping team has completed a five-day project to mow about three kilometres of the verges along the golf course perimeter.

The project, at an estimated cost of R15 000 is part of the club’s embracing programme to secure the environmental integrity of the course, according to club director, James Searson.

“We are proud to contribute to the enhancement of Parkview, Greenside and Emmarentia where we can,” he said, “and work hard to ensure that the club is kept in top condition not just for golfers’ enjoyment but to add value to the surrounding neighbourhood.”

Searson said the club employs a cleaner whose sole task is to continually remove litter, especially plastic, from the ‘sluit’ through the course, to prevent as much as possible of the litter fouling the watercourse downstream. The process removes tonnes of rubbish each year.

To assist municipal engineers to combat the erosion of the sides of the sluit, the club has opened the property to them and their contractors to set up a site office to store their equipment and gain easier access to affected areas. To limit water usage on the course, the club draws non-potable ‘grey’ water (unfit for human use) directly from the Braamfontein Spruit in terms of its riparian rites, pumps into a dam and then filters and sprays it onto the course. To combat invasive polyphagous shot-hole-borer (PSHB) that has infected some trees and threatens many trees throughout South Africa, the club has engaged an arborist to assist it to control the pest through spraying.

Searson added, “Because we see our club as an integral part of the local community, we offer residents walking and social memberships and welcome casual visitors to a round of golf or a drink or meal on our ever-popular balcony.”

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Cricket groundsman to stand down

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Cricket groundsman to stand down: He has become one of the recognisable figures in north-east cricket over the last 20 years.

But now, Kenny McCurdie, the head groundsman at Aberdeenshire CC, has confirmed he is stepping down from the role at the end of March.

Regarded as one of the country’s best pitch preparers, McCurdie has won a string of national awards  – he was groundsman of the year seven times in 11 seasons from 2000 to 2011 – and worked with Cricket Scotland in getting Mannofield ready for high-profile international matches against the likes of England and New Zealand.

Just last summer, he was responsible for the venue which staged the inaugural World Cricket League matches between the Scots, Oman and Papua New Guinea, all of which were played despite the poor weather which ravaged the domestic season.

He also toiled tirelessly with his Shire colleagues to repair the damage after the ground fell victim to vandals in 2011.

McCurdie told the Press and Journal: “There have been many highlights during my tenure, but the job is all about flexibility and the fact you need to learn to be able to work with Nature, not against it.

“It is especially gratifying, having had a poor week of weather, still being able to unveil a quality pitch on a Saturday and although, as a groundsman, you’ll not be able to please all the people all the time, I’ll be glad to shed my thick skin when I hang up my boots.”

Not even having his arm in a sling in 2014 – after he tore a muscle – could prevent him from carrying out his duties before and after the Scotland v England contest.

McCurdie has confirmed he will be leaving Mannofield at the start of the new season for decidedly warmer climes in Gran Canaria.

But he is justly proud of producing constantly good pitches at the game’s most northerly ODI venue which for many years boasted the world’s highest one-day score – when New Zealand scored 402 for 2 against Ireland in 2008.

Former Scotland bowler, Paul Hoffmann, said he had learned a huge amount from talking to McCurdie down the years, before himself becoming a groundsman.

He added: “He gave me so many tips and I always thought he had the best job in the world, doing something he loves and living at the ground.

“He knows so much about the science, but, most of all, he is brilliant groundsman and a wonderful, kind gentleman.”

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Irish links extends bunker longevity

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Irish links extends bunker longevity: The Island GC outside Dublin, generally regarded as one of Ireland’s finest courses, has rebuilt a large proportion of its revetted bunkers using a new solution from synthetic bunker solutions provider EcoBunker.

The course, which is currently undergoing a renovation at the hands of architects Mackenzie and Ebert, has adopted a new approached created by EcoBunker inventor and CEO Richard Allen, that sees the bottom six turf layers of the revetted wall built from synthetic turf, while the rest is natural.

Irish links extends bunker longevity

“Revetted bunkers decay from the bottom up, which is only to be expected because it is the bottom of the wall that is most exposed to water,” says Allen. “When the bottom of the wall fails, wind and rain get in behind the revet and remove sand, eventually causing the wall to collapse. With synthetic turf at the base, this will not happen, and the longevity of the wall will be significantly enhanced.”

“Setting the base of a revetted bunker is the part of the build that takes the most time,” says course manager Dave Edmondson. “With the EcoBunker base in place, all we will have to do when it comes to rebuilding the wall is to remove the natural revet with a spade and replace the turf. Six layers of artificial turf is a totally solid base on which to build the rest of the wall. It’s not going to move. Our revetted bunkers normally last between three and five years – south facing ones degrade faster than others – so the improvement using this EcoBunker method could be quite substantial.”

Edmondson says it is hard to see a downside of this new method. “We have to buy in my revetting turf, so putting in a synthetic base will actually make rebuilding cheaper in the future,” he explains. “And there is absolutely zero aesthetic impact. When the sand is ready for play, the synthetic turf is all below the sand line. Everything you can see is natural; it looks just like a normal revetted bunker.”

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