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Parks & green spaces during a pandemic

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Parks & green spaces during a pandemic: Green Space charity Fields in Trust has published an online Impact Report following their Annual General Meeting this week. The report shows that despite the challenges of the pandemic, work to champion, support and protect the UK’s parks and green spaces has continued. 

The report notes that 2020 was a year in which the value of parks and green spaces was widely recognised for the physical health and mental wellbeing benefits they contribute to regular park visitors.

Parks & green spaces during a pandemic

Parks & green spaces during a pandemic

Fields in Trust Chair of Trustees Jo Barnett said: “Like many charities we have had to adapt our services, embrace remote ways of working and more digital dissemination like this years online Impact Report. But I am pleased to say we have continued to make great progress with 31 new spaces protected during the year and significant progress made on our regional programme to work with Local Councils and deliver real change for their towns and cities.

As normal life resumes, we must not forget how vital our parks and green spaces have been – and that failing to protect them will be to our collective detriment.

At the AGM, Vice President of Fields in Trust, Gyles Brandreth spoke to reflect and appreciate the work of His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh who was President of the charity for 64 years. Gyles Brandreth, The Duke’s friend and biographer, is Vice President of Fields in Trust and spoke about The Duke of Edinburgh,  taking on the role as President of Fields in Trust, in October 1948 – his first national charity commitment. He served for over six decades, stepping down in 2013 to be replaced by his grandson, HRH The Duke of Cambridge, who remains as President today. The legacy created ensures that many much-loved parks and playing fields remain available today for play, sport and the enjoyment of nature.

The AGM comes a month after the current president of Fields in Trust HRH The Duke of Cambridge, launched the Green Space Index as part of his engagement with a range of charities focused on environmental issues ahead of COP26. The Index is an annual barometer of green space provision and distribution which can be used as a tool to support local authorities with green infrastructure planning to mitigate climate change. It shows there are around 2.8 million people in Great Britain who live more than a ten-minute walk from their nearest park or green space Areas with the least provision tend to be those with a higher incidence of deprivation – precisely the communities who benefit most from green space access. The Fields in Trust Impact Report can be viewed online www.fieldsintrust.org/impact-report

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Broomieknowe GC secures new kit

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Broomieknowe GC secures new kit: Broomieknowe Golf Club at Bonnyrigg, Mid Lothian, has welcomed a new golf course manager, a host of new members and some top-rated maintenance equipment, all in the space of a few months.

Allan Duncan joined the parkland club in April from Thornton GC, Glenrothes.  BIGGA Scottish student of the year in 2018, he has literally hit the ground running, getting to know the new course intimately as quickly as he can, and launching initiatives on social media to better connect the efforts of the greenkeeping team with club members.

Broomieknowe GC secures new kit

Broomieknowe GC secures new kit

“I’m loving it but there’s so much to get my head round,” he said. “People have been very welcoming. We have a brand-new club house and the club has invested heavily purchasing new equipment, so there’s a lot of momentum.”

First to arrive was a Wiedenmann Terra Spike XP8 deep aerator combined with an ISEKI TG6675 compact tractor.

“The ISEKI tractor was introduced to us by Rob Hogarth from our local dealer, Fairways GM at Kinross.  I’ve never had an ISEKI but I am really impressed.  The aerator is a heavy bit of kit but the TG6675 lift capacity is up to 1,600 kg so has no trouble at all. Together they are quite a combination.”

Their selected Terra Spike, the XP, is Wiedenmann UK’s biggest in fleet, chosen because of its readiness to go 40 cm deep.

“It was all purely about depth,” continued Allan. “We’ve a build-up of organic matter deep down on some greens and a bit of compaction in some of our fairways.  There are actually very good soils below the surface but to tap into these, we need the aerator to get air and water through the profile a lot quicker.

“It had been reasonably dry until I arrived, but once the ground got softer, we went out on the greens with 12 mm tines along with the turf retainers. The greens have reacted well to them.  Water has gone down, not just through the top profile but permeated through the bottom profile, and already I can see a difference.  The plan is to keep that going every month right through the summer as disruption to surface is minimal.”

“The wider programme is to do tees and approaches at the end of the season, so September, and then spike the fairways before winter arrives. The speed of the XP8 is impressive.  I’ve used the GXi8 HD before and everyone says how quick it is, but the XP8 is no slouch. We had no expectation of speed as we were searching for depth … but a hectare of greens took around nine hours, so it’s great to be able to complete all 18 greens in a day.”

Four weeks later, a delivery of the Maredo MT200 Flex-Verticutter arrived for the Lothian club.    Even on the most challenging of fairway undulations they are falter-free thanks to a turn-able ‘A’ frame and pivot point.  Each head measures just over 63 cm giving a total reach of 1.9 m with working to depths of around 25 mm.

“The Maredos were another easy decision,” said Allan. “While relieving compaction with the Terra Spike on the fairways, the next stage is to follow through with scarifying.  The idea is to remove the organic matter, breaking surface tension to help get rid of less desirable broad leaf grasses and encourage the finer ones to flourish. This leaves a better habitat for the finer grasses to grow. I really appreciate the adaptability of the Maredos with their three cassettes lined up in a V-formation, as opposed to a straight unit. They are at one with the tractor and even in just an hour cover large areas. The course is fairly flat, except for a few undulating holes with numerous dips and bumps, yet wherever they are, they hug the course, don’t scalp or pull out too much. One spanner adjustment and away you go.  They will improve the texture and quality significantly.  All main playing surfaces (except greens) will be done twice a year with the Maredos with maybe the approaches getting three hits, depending on the weather.”

“When it comes to choosing machinery, I find you always have a strong idea of what to seek but it’s good when others bring additional knowledge. Both the Fairways GM and Wiedenmann teams support you intuitively and direct you to what will work in your situation and machines that are appropriate. I feel entirely supported throughout.  No stone has been left unturned trying to help us get what we need. Even the BAGMA accredited installation training at handover is a nice touch. My team and I all benefited and not every dealer ensures such good practice.”

Rob Hogarth, Fairways GM’s Regional Manager said:

“The BAGMA Installation Scheme, is developed in conjunction with the Health & Safety Executive.  Everyone in our sales and installer team has been trained to handover using a systematic process.  Our team in turn replicate this initiative to our customers, covering things like site specific risk assessments and working in a safe environment. If clients’ teams attend the session given by one of the Fairways GM team, they receive a record of attendance and so does their employer. Allan and his team have found it very worthwhile.”

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STIHL launches cordless hedge trimmer

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STIHL launches cordless hedge trimmer: STIHL has launched the new HLA 135, the most robust and powerful cordless long-reach hedge trimmer in its offering, ideal for commercial applications and trimming and pruning back large hedgerows, especially in noise sensitive environments.

Weighing just 5.6kg (without battery), the STIHL HLA 135 is 249cm in length and features 600mm double-sided, double-edged universal blades that can cut through 16-18mm branches. The cutter bar can be rotated through 145º via the lightweight magnesium gearbox to enable over-head, side and ground-level cutting.

STIHL launches cordless hedge trimmer

STIHL launches cordless hedge trimmer

A new, more comfortable control handle boasts three-speed pre-selection levels through an LED display, enabling operators to alter their working speed to the necessary conditions, whilst optimising battery-working time. Maximum stroke rate is an impressive 4000rpm, perfect for leaving a smooth finish on conifers.

Other features include a soft loop handle and grip shaft, RTS harness eyelet and mesh air filter. When used in conjunction with STIHL’s AP 200 battery system, the HLA 135 has a run time of up to 64 minutes.

For more information on the STIHL HLA 135 and its extensive range of cordless long-reach hedge trimmers, please visit www.stihl.co.uk.

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UltraGroomer™ cassettes satisfy need for speed

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UltraGroomer™ cassettes satisfy need for speed: Recording in the region of 4000 rounds played every month, Southport’s Hillside Golf Club is a very busy course!

Tasked with balancing the expectations of the players with the sustainability of the Course is Links Manager Chris Ball – who is now conducting weekly passes with a set of UltraGroomer™ cassettes from the TMSystem™ to satisfy the golfers ‘need for speed’ without reducing heights of cut.

UltraGroomer™ cassettes satisfy need for speed

UltraGroomer™ cassettes satisfy need for speed

Chris has been in charge of the 18-hole links venue since his return to the club in 2018 and together with his greenkeeping team of eight has to manage not only the challenges of their exposed coastal location, but the demand for pace on the greens. “While simply lowering heights of cut may work for some clubs, because of factors such as the wind, this is not sustainable for us without detriment to the overall health and condition of the plant” Chris explains.

“Our previous verti-cut setup was no longer fit for purpose, so we spoke to our local dealer Turner Groundscare who introduced us to the UltraGroomer™ cassette.”  One of 12 maintenance cassettes from the TMSystem™, the UltraGroomer™ features over 80 1.3mm tungsten tipped blades, spaced 5mm apart, to remove Poa, lateral growth and organic matter – enhancing the downward movement of oxygen, nutrients and moisture and making it more difficult for disease pathogens to take hold.

“We trialled the cassette, fitted in the pedestrian INFINICUT® unit, on a couple of greens and it did a fantastic job of removing the coarser leaves without disturbing the finer species we’re trying to encourage, and without leaving lines in the ground. Although we hadn’t seen them operating on a triple, we were all impressed straight away and promptly purchased a set for our JD 2500 triple.”

Through the main growing season, the Hillside team are running the UltraGroomers™ over the greens once a week to remove any lateral growth, refine and reduce ingress of unwanted species and stand the plant upright – all without causing undue stress. “Having proudly hosted some pro events in recent years, and by being in regular contact with bodies such as the R&A, we know what pace we’re ideally trying to achieve and the best methods to attain that. We are delighted to be maintaining ours, with relative ease, using the UltraGroomer™ cassettes and are very pleased with the results we’re seeing so far.”

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Wiedenmann dealers introduce STrac 700

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Wiedenmann dealers introduce STrac 700: Occasionally an ingeniously simple machine comes along which becomes instantly indispensable. Welcome the Maredo STrac 700, a pedestrian power unit which supports four different groundcare operations – scarifying, aeration, seeding and fraise mowing with more to come.

The ‘access-all-areas’ STrac 700 is light, fast and versatile. Suddenly, even on difficult undulations, there is scope to provide uniformity of care and presentation across a whole site. It can be used on all turf surfaces from bowling greens to full size pitches and for challenging areas like the collars of a golf course, or, where a tractor is too heavy.

Wiedenmann dealers introduce STrac 700

Wiedenmann dealers introduce STrac 700

Brought to you via your local Wiedenmann UK dealer, the STrac 700 has easy controls on the guiding handle and a set of inter-changeable heads. A very short turning radius means the rear wheels can adopt  a variety of operating positions, while the tools connect effortlessly, cassette style.

Maredo offers four tool types each purchased separately with working widths of 65 cm:

  • The ST200 Flex-Verticutter scarifies to 25 mm using carbide tipped blades with tool free adjustment. The blades counter rotate against the direction of travel so material is lifted tidily out the way rather than dragged into the slits.
  • To relieve compaction down to 60 mm in stressed turf, the ST210 Vibe-Spike Aerator allows for expert following of undulations or making curves as required. Unlike conventional spike aerators, the spike tools vibrate to crack the soil, punching holes to let air and nutrients through.
  • The ST170 FlexFrase-Mower targets problem areas by stripping off the top layer of turf to a maximum depth of 20 mm, leaving a perfectly flat and smooth surface ready to overseed. It is also ideal for removing bumps and undulations on goal mouths, tee boxes and gardens.
  • Finally, the ST418 VibeDisc-Seeder head uses unique technology to plant the seed right where it should be and protect it against all kinds of outside influences. This is a slit seeder which can dose seed from 0 to -15 mm at as low as 2 g/m ² to 15 g / m². The seed box contains up to 6 kg of seed with disc seeder slit spacings at 42 mm. Coming soon is a new dimple seeder head which will create a pattern of dimples where the seeds will be placed.

Rob Hogarth, former Course Manager of Remedy Oak, the England top 100 club in Dorset, and now Regional Sales Manager of Fairways GM, has demonstrated the STrac units extensively since they arrived in the UK.

He said: “The STrac 700 is revolutionary.  When I think back on worrying about transitions and worn collars, I would have traded my left arm for the scarifier and seeder cartridges. The YouTube videos of the STrac in action don’t do it justice.

“The wheel positions are insanely good. Literally, you put the rear wheels where they do their best work, so put them beside the pull along handle, at the back or a combination.  It just means you guide and pivot the STrac into virtually any position, so up close to edges, on changing levels, really, anywhere… Right now, clubs across the country are in the middle of renovations. The beauty of the STrac set up to fraise mow, is how it goes around sprinkler heads.  I don’t think I’ve seen a neater job.

“In the US, these are painted orange as a Wiedenmann machine, while over here they still have the Maredo label.  You just need to go through your Wiedenmann UK dealer to see them.

“Maredo has really thought these out. Hydrostatic front wheel drive and 9 Hp mean they are manoeuvrable and fast. Whatever head you choose is mechanically PTO driven and hydraulically lifted.  They go forward at a decent walking speed of 6 km/hr and 4 km/hr if you go backwards. The factory has more heads for more operations in development. The versatile size and carbide blades make the STrac 700 unlike anything else.”

www.maredo-bv.com  Twitter  @GroundProUK  @WiedenmannUk @Maredo

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