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Take on the TinyMobileRobots challenge at GroundsFest

Take on the TinyMobileRobots challenge at GroundsFest

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Take on the TinyMobileRobots challenge at GroundsFest

Origin Amenity Solutions (OAS) will be among the must-see exhibitors at this year’s GroundsFest, bringing one of the industry’s most comprehensive portfolios of products, services and technical expertise to Stoneleigh Park. Visitors to stand RB140 will be able to explore innovative solutions for the landscape and amenity sectors, designed to deliver improved efficiency, sustainability and green space quality.

Take on the TinyMobileRobots challenge at GroundsFest

Take on the TinyMobileRobots challenge at GroundsFest

Alongside the many well-known products from their comprehensive range, GroundsFest 2026 will also be the launch platform for a number of new OAS products including Eco Ice Melt – a premium de-icing solution to effectively control ice with reduced corrosion and improved longevity compared to traditional rock salt. Offering lower application rates and improved spreadability, one bag of Eco Ice Melt can successfully treat areas of 1000m2 in temperatures as low as -20oc helping to maintain safer surfaces during severe winter weather.

Another stand focus will be FleetKleen, Origin’s specialist vehicle cleaning range designed to keep fleets operating at their best with professional-grade cleaning and maintenance solutions.

Innovation will also take centre stage with a spotlight on the TinyMobileRobots range. Proven to transform line marking operations through precision automation, the TMR range is an increasingly popular choice for contractors, schools and sports facilities looking to improve both the productivity and accuracy of their marking.

Adding to the excitement, visitors will have the chance to test their skills on a TinyMobileRobots obstacle course challenge, taking place across the two days. Alongside bragging rights, the lucky winner will earn themselves an exclusive trip to the TinyMobileRobots factory in Aarhus, Denmark, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the technology driving the future of robotic line marking.

With proven products, innovative technologies and the expertise of our trusted technical team, OAS remains a dependable partner for those shaping, maintaining and improving the nation’s amenity and infrastructure landscapes. Pick up a brochure to discover more about plant protection, fertilisers, specialist seed, line marking, sports equipment, essential sundries and more when GroundsFest returns on 16th and 17th September 2026.

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Kubota to showcase machines for all maintenance tasks at GroundsFest

Kubota to showcase machines for all maintenance tasks at GroundsFest

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Kubota to showcase machines for all maintenance tasks at GroundsFest

A stop by stand OSA810 will be a must for visitors to this years GroundsFest, with Kubota and Baroness joining forces to showcase one of the industry’s most comprehensive equipment line-ups. While many stands will focus on a single equipment category, Kubota’s attendance will highlight the depth and versatility of their range, designed to support grounds professionals, landscapers, contractors and local authorities across multiple environments and maintenance operations.

Kubota to showcase machines for all maintenance tasks at GroundsFest

Kubota to showcase machines for all maintenance tasks at GroundsFest

Attendees will have the opportunity to get up close with the latest innovations in the ride-on and zero-turn mower market, which will proudly sit alongside the very best in compact tractors, utility vehicles and mini excavators.

Stand highlights will include the latest addition to the FC cut and collect range, the FC4-441. With flail and rotary cutting deck options together with a number of optional attachments, the FC4-441 is an adaptable addition to any machinery shed – as comfortable and capable cutting large areas such as parks and sports fields as it is conducting end of season rough or wildflower maintenance.

The FC4 will be one of several mowers on display, with the G261HD and a number of models from the significantly extended zero-turn collection also making their way to Stoneleigh Park this September.

No Kubota stand would be complete without an array of compact tractors and GroundsFest 2026 will be no different, with models from the L, LX and B-Series all on show. Also demonstrating that Kubota reliability and performance is accessible in an entry-level package, the EK1-261 HST will be making an appearance. Easy to operate and built with capability in mind, the EK1-261 HST delivers practical productivity, perfectly suited to landowners and grassroots sports facilities.

Supporting the display will be representatives from Kubota dealers George Browns, Hunts Engineering, Lister Wilder and Henton & Chattell, who will be on hand throughout the event to offer expert advice and provide practical support to visitors looking for the right equipment for their business.

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Briggs & Stratton appoints New Business Development Manager for Electrification

Briggs & Stratton appoints New Business Development Manager for Electrification

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Briggs & Stratton appoints New Business Development Manager for Electrification

Briggs & Stratton, one of the world’s leading providers of power solutions has announced the appointment of Jamie Bailey as the company’s New Business Development Manager for Electrification, leading Briggs & Stratton’s electrification strategy across EMEA.

Briggs & Stratton appoints New Business Development Manager for Electrification

Briggs & Stratton appoints New Business Development Manager for Electrification

Jamie steps into the role following five years of successful development within Briggs & Stratton, having progressed from Service Technician within the UK market to Regional Technical Service Leader for Central Europe, later expanding his responsibilities to include Southern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India.

In his new position, Jamie will lead efforts to support and accelerate Briggs & Stratton and Vanguard Battery Systems’ electrification initiatives across the EMEA region. He will help identify new business opportunities, strengthen customer relationships and support the continued growth of the company’s evolving power solutions portfolio as it progresses its transition towards electrification and new technologies.

Over the course of his career at Briggs & Stratton, Jamie has built strong relationships across the business and developed extensive technical knowledge of a wide range of products and applications. Through his close work with OEMs, distributors, and dealers throughout the region, he has also gained valuable commercial insight and a strong understanding of customer needs across multiple markets.

Philipp Deubel, Senior Director of Sales at Briggs & Stratton EMEA, added: “Jamie brings a rare combination of technical expertise, commercial awareness and strong customer relationships to this role. He understands both our products and our markets extremely well, which will enable him to play an important role in supercharging our growth and electrification ambitions across EMEA.”

Commenting on his appointment, Jamie Bailey said: “I’m really excited to begin this next chapter with Briggs & Stratton. Electrification is a fast-moving and important area for our industry, and I’m looking forward to working closely with our customers, partners and teams across EMEA.”

The appointment reflects Briggs & Stratton’s commitment to advancing electrification and innovative power solutions across EMEA. Leveraging his extensive experience, Jamie will support the company’s efforts to deliver customer-focused technologies and drive long-term growth across the region.

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Green-tech becomes Origin Green-tech

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Green-tech becomes Origin Green-tech

Green-tech, one of the UK’s leading suppliers to the landscaping, forestry, construction, and environmental sectors, is proud to announce its new name: Origin Green-tech.

Green-tech becomes Origin Green-tech

Green-tech becomes Origin Green-tech

 

The new identity reflects the company’s place within Origin Enterprises plc, a global leader in sustainable land-use solutions. While the name is changing, everything customers value about Green-tech remains the same: the people, the specialist expertise, the high-quality, innovative solutions, and the outstanding service that have been core to the business for over 30 years.

The rebrand reinforces the company’s purpose of creating sustainable Living Landscapes, helping customers shape environments that thrive through innovation, trusted expertise and complete solutions. From urban greening and biodiversity enhancement to forestry, infrastructure and environmental restoration, Origin Green-tech is uniquely positioned to support projects that deliver lasting environmental value.

As part of this evolution, the established and respected British Hardwood Tree Nursery will strengthen the Origin Green-tech business while continuing as a trading brand alongside John Chambers Wildflowers, Green-tree Soils, and Groundtrax Ground Reinforcement Solutions.

For customers, this means much more than a new company structure. Bringing these respected specialist brands together creates a single partner capable of supporting every stage of land management and landscape creation. Customers can now access the UK’s trusted wholesale supplier of bare-root trees, shrubs, hedgerow plants and planting accessories, as well as wildflowers, landscaping materials, soils and substrates, erosion control products, and environmental solutions, through one connected business. Origin Green-tech offers complete solutions from concept through to completion, giving customers one trusted partner for every stage of their project.

Mark Andrews, Managing Director of Origin Green-tech, explains, “Our new name reflects who we are today and where we are going, but it doesn’t change what matters most to our customers. They will continue to work with the same knowledgeable people and receive the same trusted service that Green-tech and British Hardwood Tree Nursery have always been known for.

What this does change is the opportunity for our customers. By bringing together our range of specialist brands and leveraging the strength of Origin Enterprises, we are creating one business with a breadth of solutions, technical knowledge and practical experience to support projects from concept through to completion.

Whether our customers are creating woodlands, delivering greener cities, restoring natural habitats, or supporting infrastructure and landscape projects, they can now access everything they need through one trusted partner. That gives them greater confidence, greater efficiency, and complete peace of mind in knowing they have the right partner for every project.

The launch of Origin Green-tech marks more than a name change. It represents a business with broader capability, deeper expertise and an even stronger commitment to helping customers create resilient, sustainable landscapes.”

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Terrain Aeration celebrates 50 years

Terrain Aeration celebrates 50 years

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Terrain Aeration celebrates 50 years

Terrain Aeration’s Terralift system celebrates 50 years of successful deep aeration treatment of bowling greens, sports turf, golf clubs, parks, trees and more.

Terrain Aeration celebrates 50 years

Terrain Aeration celebrates 50 years

At the end of September, when bowling clubs are thinking about carrying out end of season maintenance, aeration is a concept that is thought about but rarely addressed. Scarifying, re-seeding, and top dressing are on the front line of the main budget planning. Forgotten are the days when games had to stop play because the ground was waterlogged. A nuisance at the time, but now is the time to bring this problem up at a committee meeting and address it.

The Terrain Aeration Scamper Terralift machine was designed 20 years ago to be able to access most bowling greens. The Scamper Terralift machine hammers a hollow probe (1 1/2″ ( 37mm width) one metre into the soil before releasing a controlled blast of compressed air, to a maximum of 20Bar/280 psi. This pressure is monitored or changed by the operator, so there is a slight movement of the top surface before the turf settles back down. Then, the operator knows that he has aerated the ground from one metre to the top surface. On the tail end of the release of compressed air, dried seaweed is incorporated which sticks to the walls of the fractures and fissures created by the main air blast.

Over a period, the seaweed expands and contracts with the moisture content of the soil, swelling and contracting – similar to breathing underground, helping to keep the fissures open longer. The machine uses 2m centre spacings on a staggered grid pattern, each shot interconnecting with the previous ones, ensuring the whole area is aerated and decompacted. The probe holes are backfilled with an aggregate, with the top 1″-2″ backfilled with normal top dressing material. Once this deep aeration treatment has taken place, it would not be required for at least another 10-12 years, so it is extremely cost-effective. Deep aeration treatment of a green takes around 5 to 6 hours. The engine/compressor unit is kept off the green with an umbilical air hose to supply the compressed air, thus reducing weight on the green as well as having to start and stop the machine every two metres.

It is preferable that the greenkeeper slits or hollow tines before the Terrain Aeration treatment, to relieve the surface tension so the air can gently blow through those top holes. The treatment can take place before top dressing and re-seed. but if ground conditions at that time deem the green too wet, then the end of season maintenance can continue and later, the Scamper Terralift can come in and aerate the green. There is enough time to fit this in before March of the following year. Terrain Aeration has at times even treated a bowling green mid-season – one had a black squidge where the bowler’s back foot was placed. If the treatment hadn’t taken place, that green would have played itself out until the end of the season. It would not have been repaired/replaced. That green survived and is going strong many years later. One club commented that after Terrain aerated their green on one of their matches, rain stopped play. They found that they could only have one pint from the bar before the green had drained away of water and play could continue.

A final point. Clubs considering laying in drains will have disruption to their green, but still have compaction panning in between the drain runs. With a track record of treating greens for over thirty years, it’s certainly worth Terrain Aeration taking a look before committing to the expense of laying drains.

Terrain Aeration works nationwide, providing deep aeration relief for waterlogging and flooding  for bowling greens, sports grounds, amenity areas, golf courses, public spaces and house builders.

Terrain Aeration 01449 673783 www.terrainaeration.co.uk

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