New biocide gains momentum

New biocide gains momentum: Following its recent launch, new biocide Enclean has made a successful introduction into the amenity sector following positive reports from early adopters confirms agronomist Robert Bone, Amenity Specialist with Agrovista.

Mr Bone, who has over 35 years of industry experience, first saw the biocide in its development phase 18 months ago and was impressed with both its speed of action in eradicating algae and its positive effect on dealing with other green deposits that often build up on hard surfaces.

New biocide gains momentum

New biocide gains momentum

“I followed Enclean’s progress across a number of trials during 2019 and although it’s designed primarily to remove algae, trials have consistently shown the biocide’s main active ingredient, Nonanoic acid, also has a secondary effect on breaking down other green deposits that can accumulate on hard surfaces.

“Enclean is plant derived, safe to use, and it has no environmental hazard classification. It’s fast acting and, once applied, it quickly degrades into natural elements leaving behind no harmful residue,” he confirms.

Since the March launch Robert has been working with his customer base of ground maintenance contractors, county councils and local authorities conducting operator training courses to help them better understand the new biocide, its efficacy and level of control under different operating conditions and on different surfaces such as pavements, the outer surfaces of greenhouses, wooden decking and fence panels.

Despite the restrictions on face-to-face meetings due to Covid-19 he believes that Enclean has rapidly gained wide acceptance amongst his clients due to the success of the training courses and product demonstrations.

“Application advice is a key part of the agronomic service I provide to customers and the training courses are a good way of promoting best practice. Although there are a number of established biocides able to deal with algae, Enclean’s very low dilution requirement of 1L of product to 14L of water offering users over 550m2 of coverage is a potential game changer allowing the operator to apply the product using a small knapsack sprayer.

“Often, when there is a build up of algae, it occurs in narrow pathways that have limited access to sunlight or wind. Many biocides tend to require large water volumes and that can be a serious problem if the large tank on an ATV or UTV mounted sprayer can’t access the area you need to treat. If you’re working in a relatively remote place, far away from a water source, another potential issue is accessing significant volumes of water to be able to do the job. Using a biocide that requires a relatively small amount of water from a knapsack sprayer can be a major advantage,” he explains.

Colin Simpson, Estimating and Purchasing Manager with Ray Skelton (Harrogate) Limited, also sees a positive future for Enclean following extensive product trials this year across a number of the company’s school maintenance contracts.

“We’re one of the largest horticultural and ground maintenance service providers in North Yorkshire and, until recently, we had been struggling to find a really effective hard surface biocide. With many schools closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic earlier this year it had caused a build up of algae on pathways around many school buildings due to the simple fact that people weren’t using them as often.

New biocide gains momentum

New biocide gains momentum

“One of the key considerations when we apply any chemical is the safety aspect. Not only the safety of our operator, but the health and safety of children using the pathways and making sure we don’t harm the environment. Enclean’s very low environmental hazard classification combined with a high level of operator safety ticked both boxes.

“When we look at contracts where we are spraying large areas, time is also a factor so the fact that Enclean does not foam in the tank meaning it can be cleaned out quickly following use was another positive. Based on our experience it is best to apply the product in dry, sunny conditions. Try to find a 2-3 day window of dry weather after application if possible. In the right conditions surfaces were completely clear within 14-21 days of application and there was no requirement for a follow up spray,” he confirms.

Simon Race, Director of Sports Turf Services Limited  – a family run business based near York, also found that tank cleaning post application was both time consuming and problematic when using biocides that required large water volumes.

“We used to use Qualgex but, although it performed well enough, it foamed in the tank leaving a residue that required significant washing out of both the tank and pipes after the product was applied.  We wanted something that was both quicker to mix and easier to apply using smaller quantities of water. Enclean was the obvious answer.

     “As long as you apply at the advised rate in dry conditions you should see the correct visual signs of the algae and other green deposits beginning to turn brown and decay after just 2-3 days. Whilst 1 application will generally clear most surfaces we did find that when dealing with black algae engrained into older stone surfaces a follow up application will often be required to complete the job,” he concludes.

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Amazing result at Hever Castle

Amazing result at Hever Castle: The historic English Yew Maze at Hever Castle in Kent dates back to 1906 when it was created by William Waldorf Astor, a former owner who restored the castle.

Hever was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII and mother of Queen Elizabeth 1. It draws 350,000 visitors a year, most of whom will test their sense of direction and memory by walking the maze. Originally intended only for family use, it comprises more than 1,000 individual yew trees imported from Holland, it measures 80ft by 80ft (24.4m) and is 6,4000 square feet. The hedges reach 8ft (2.4m) in height and there is almost a quarter of a mile (0.4km) of pathways inside. The Yew maze is one of two at the castle.

Amazing result at Hever Castle

Amazing result at Hever Castle

To maintain healthy Yew hedging requires decompaction of the beach pebble pathways and specialists Terrain Aeration carried out the work using their Remote Terralift machine. The baby of the Terralift fleet, the Remote weighs in at just eighty kilos and measures only sixty centimetres wide. This allows it to fit through narrow pathways such as the maze and work in confined spaces other machines cannot reach. It still has the power of a standard Airforce Terralift to hammer the hollow probe up to one metre deep and release a hydraulic blast of compressed air at up to 20Bar (28psi).

The roots of all plants need to respire and absorb oxygen from the air spaces between soil particles. If these spaces are closed the roots tend to die back from such areas. Soil loses airspaces by compacting, whether under its own weight or because it has been loaded by passing feet. The latter is very much the case for the Hever Castle maze. Having fractured the soil underground and created fissures, the Remote Terralift’s probe releases dried seaweed which expands and contracts with the moisture, and the probe holes are backfilled with Lytag aggregate to maintain aeration.

“It is absolutely necessary to ensure the health of the Yew trees which are nearly 115 years old.” Says Neil Miller, Hever Castle’s Head Gardener. “The last time we had Terrain Aeration do the aerating was ten years ago, so we know it works. It’s the only way to keep the old topiary alive. Terrain were with us for the day last January and treated the pathways and perimeter. The result is the Yews are looking extremely healthy.”

Since closure during the Covid-19 crisis, the maze at Hever Castle is currently closed to ensure the Yews fully benefit from the work. Although this is not essential it will make an added contribution to maintaining their good health.  Terrain Aeration 01449 673783

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Roll call of improvements for West Herts

Roll call of improvements for West Herts: There’s a veritable roll call of improvements for West Herts Golf Club after the installation of a new Toro irrigation system in the Winter of 2019.

Consistency of growth, water savings, reduced cutting heights, more definition, healthier turf and visual improvements are all highlighted by general manager Jonathan Kaltner, as well as the “best possible service” during the installation that took place during the pandemic.

Roll call of improvements for West Herts

Roll call of improvements for West Herts

Thanks to the installation of Toro Lynx Central Control and Toro sprinklers, West Herts Golf Club’s course is “head and shoulders above where it was last year,” says Jonathan.

“The new system has been operational since June and we’ve already seen a big improvement,” he explains. “Previously hot weather would cause problems such as burning the turf on the tops of bunkers, requiring us to re-turf them in the autumn. But there’s no sign of that now.

“The Toro sprinklers all have head control valves and using Lynx Central Control allows you to turn on one sprinkler at a time and pinpoint your irrigation to where you need it. Plus, the application in millimetres can be set and left overnight, with the weather station able to pick up if it’s rained and automatically change the application in response to that, so you don’t waste water.

“With Toro irrigation, you get incredibly accurate and uniform application, which means there is far more consistency of growth,” he says. “Because of that, we’ve been able to reduce cutting heights in some areas and get more definition. It’s phenomenal what it’s been able to do visually.”

The improvement to the course has proved all the more sweeter as it was a refit long overdue: “Parts of the system had reached 40-years old and while it had been added to over the years, it was not as efficient as it could be,” explains Jonathan. “So, we started to look into upgrading and had Irritech come to do a survey and put together a proposal. Based on what needed doing, we realised a Toro irrigation system could provide many efficiencies that would really benefit us. Plus, our head greenkeeper is a big fan of how Toro machinery operates, so we knew we could trust the brand.”

After speaking to Reesink Turfcare to finalise the perfect sprinkler combinations for the course, the club enlisted MH Irrigation Ltd to carry out the installation consisting of everything from new water storage tanks to underground pipework.

“We had a total refit, plus Lynx Central Control and around 400 Toro sprinklers installed. The support from MH Irrigation Ltd and Reesink was fantastic throughout,” says Jonathan. “Obviously there were additional difficulties due to COVID-19, but Reesink moved some training online and did everything they could to adapt to the situation and provide the best possible service.”

As part of the club’s continued investment in the course, the excellent results Toro irrigation has delivered is a “real game changer” says Jonathan: “The feedback has been superb and it puts the club in a fantastic position moving forward. With our Toro machinery lease renewal coming up and improvements to be made to the bunkers and club house, the only way is up for West Herts!”

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Harrowden Turf opens new Collection Depot

Harrowden Turf opens new Collection Depot: Harrowden Turf has co-located a new Collection Depot at its Head Office site in Islip near Kettering in response to customer feedback and to improve accessibility to its product range and convenience for Midlands based customers.

The new Kettering Depot joins existing collection locations in Southport, Warrington, Norfolk, and Edinburgh in offering customers a more convenient local collection point in Northamptonshire.  This supplements our existing nationwide delivery service.

Harrowden Turf opens new Collection Depot

Harrowden Turf opens new Collection Depot

The new site will effectively operate as a “call and collect” facility allowing customers to access our full range of products by pre-ordering on the existing phone number of 01832 777100.

Stuart Ridd-Jones – Harrowden Turf Managing Director:

We are continually looking at ways to enhance our service offering and having a dedicated collection depot co-located at our Head Office site near Kettering gives us a great base to increase accessibility to our products and provide local convenience for customers across the Midlands.

The depot is aimed at both trade and retail customers looking for a local outlet for turf, wildflower turf, sedum green roof products, topsoil and other items from our landscape range.

Please call to pre-order and arrange your collection from our new depot in Islip near Kettering”

Our full product range can be found at our retail website: www.turfonline.co.uk

Trade pricing is available on application.

Kettering Collection Depot details are:

Harrowden Turf Kettering Depot
Colpmans Farm
Islip
Kettering
Northamptonshire
NN14 3LT

Tel:       01832 777100 (Option 1)

Email:   kettering@harrowdenturf.co.uk

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