Sherriff’s Marathon Tackles Drought

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Sherriff’s Marathon Tackles Drought: With prolonged heat and drought conditions challenging turf managers up and down the country in 2018, Tim Attwood, sports field groundsman at Beaudesert Park School in Minchinhampton, Stroud, believes that his use of Sherriff Amenity’s Marathon fertilisers have helped his turf to endure this testing period.

Beaudesert Park stands in beautiful grounds high up in the Cotswolds, commanding magnificent views over the surrounding countryside. Founded in 1908 at Henley in Arden, Warwickshire, the school moved to its present site in 1918 and has become a thriving co-ed day, weekly and flexi boarding school for 450 boys and girls aged 3 – 13.

Sherriff's Marathon Tackles Drought

The school has excellent facilities which includes 15 acres of beautiful playing fields. Football is the main focus at the start of the spring term which is shortly followed by hockey. Rugby is the major sport in the autumn term and as you would expect, cricket is prominent in the summer.

Tim is the man charged with maintaining all of the sports pitches and after working with Sherriff Amenity for 15 years, he believes that his use of Marathon fertilisers is a tried and tested method which guarantees results.

“I’ve used Marathon fertilisers on sites where I have worked before and they have just always worked. They are also semi-organic which ticks a nice big box for me,” he says.

As Tim remarks, the range of Marathon fertilisers feature a patented organic complex base that provides the extended release characteristics needed to give gentle root development without producing excessive top growth. The slow release mechanism avoids soft growth that is more susceptible to disease attack whilst the high potassium content helps to harden turf against fungal pathogens and low temperature stress. The analysis has been further amended with ingredients to supply the correct balance of nutrients required by the turf.

With the analyses of each product in the range being geared to a specific growth stage or season, Tim incorporates three particular Marathon fertilisers into a year round maintenance programme.

Applying the product by using a spreader behind a compact tractor and at rate of 25g/m2, Tim firstly uses the Marathon Sport Spring 16.4.8 typically at the end of March. In the midst of a warm July he will then apply Marathon Sport Summer 10.0.15 followed by the Autumn mixture 7.0.21 in October.

“This programme keeps the pitches ticking over nicely throughout the year,” he says. “It greens up nicely, the sward seems to thicken and it lasts for a good long time. Even throughout this summer, which has been incredibly challenging with the weather, my sports field has maintained its health and colour. From what I’ve seen, there are a lot of sports fields round here which haven’t and I think the Marathon Sport products have gone a long way in achieving that.”

Sherriff Amenity’s extensive range of quality products are also perfectly complimented by the first class customer service provided by the company’s amenity specialists. Renowned for their technical knowledge, which is consistently enriched through industry leading training programmes, Sherriff’s amenity specialists are always on hand to ensure that customers are always getting the best results from their turf.

“I’ve known David Evans (amenity specialist for Wiltshire and South Wales) for a long time and I know that he would never push any products my way which are not appropriate for what I want to achieve. He genuinely wants the best for my turf and he’s always there for help, recommendations and support. For me, that is a big factor in choosing to work with Sherriff Amenity.”

For further information, please contact Sherriff Amenity on 01638 721 888 or visit www.sherriffamenity.com

For more news and insightful views, you can follow Sherriff Amenity on Twitter @SherriffAmenity

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Barenbrug’s New Winter Sports Blend

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Barenbrug’s New Winter Sports Blend: Elite Sport from Barenbrug is the new number one rated Winter Sports blend. The top-performing product blends perennial ryegrasses for the renovation and construction of winter sports pitches.

Cultivar trials at the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) under the British Society of Plant Breeders (BSPB) protocol analyse the performance of sports perennial ryegrasses under intensive wear pressure in line with a winter sports season.  The trial plots are sown in spring, and a “wear simulation machine” is applied from autumn through to the following spring.  Individual cultivars are replicated three times and scored for traits such as Visual Merit; Live Ground Cover; Shoot Density and Recovery; each scored on a scale of 1-9 (9 is highest).

Barenbrug's New Winter Sports Blend

A ryegrass cultivar must be subjected to three successive wear trials (sports seasons) to be listed in Table S1 of the annual publication “Turfgrass Seed” (aka “the STRI/BSPB booklet”).  Table S1 represents a ranking of Mean scores (the combined average of Visual Merit and Live Ground Cover) of approximately 100 perennial ryegrass varieties.

Elite Sport features four of the top-six cultivars in the S1 table and contains 40% by composition of the new #1-ranked Europitch (Mean = 8.1).  Overall, the product blend has an outstanding Mean score of 7.92.  This score translates into Elite Sport being the industry-leading performing product for winter sports use in the UK.

In addition to performance underwear, the blend has other traits of interest to grounds managers of elite winter sports surfaces.  Barcristalla (25% of the mix) is ranked #1 in the top-60 listed varieties for dark green colour and has exceptional Drechslera leaf spot and Fusarium (Microdochium) tolerance (source: turfgrass-list.org).  These two factors are particularly important to stadium environments under intensive disease pressure and the scrutiny of high-definition TV cameras.

Three of the four varieties have also been put their paces at Barenbrug’s dedicated UK research station, Cropvale, in Worcestershire.  Here, wear simulation is monitored using Digital Image Analysis (DIA) to objectively analyse performance.

Elite Sport is being successfully tested in pilot form at Heart of Midlothian FC, following a full pitch reconstruction in the summer of 2018.

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New Hydroponic Turf System

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New Hydroponic Turf System: Capillary Concrete, best known as the supplier of golf’s most scientifically advanced bunker liner product, has launched a revolution in golf turfgrass management. 

Capillary Concrete, best known as the supplier of golf’s most scientifically advanced bunker liner product, has launched a revolution in golf turfgrass management. The Hydroponic Turf System offers course managers the opportunity to make huge reductions in the amount of water needed to maintain high quality turfgrass, while at the same time promising major increases in turf health.

New Hydroponic Turf System

The system uses the capillary properties of Capillary Concrete to enable both drainage and irrigation from below and to precisely regulate the moisture content of the turf’s rootzone. 

Martin Sternberg, Capillary Concrete inventor and CEO, said: “The system divides the turf into two areas of equal size. A control basin automatically oxygenates and pumps or drains water between the two areas on a regular schedule. The system is powered by a small solar panel and the water levels in the turf profile can easily be adjusted.” 

The Hydroponic Turf System enables massive increases in gas exchange below the top four inches of the rootzone – the area which conventional aeration methods do not adequately service. Because carbon dioxide molecules are heavier than those of oxygen, the system pushes out the heavier molecules and sucks oxygen into the turf profile by raising and lowering the water table. It also delivers optimal levels of nutrients directly to the rootzone. 

Sternberg said: “We have been researching this application of our technology for five years, and the results are remarkable. Irrigating from below virtually eliminates evaporation, and our tests show up to 85 per cent savings in total water used under our Hydroponic Turf System. Irrigation costs can be lowered by up to to 30 per cent, and the level of gas exchange in the rootzone can be increased by an almost unbelievable 6,000 per cent. Using hydroponics in this way will increase the lifespan of tees and greens, it will help superintendents deliver superior turf from dryer surfaces with lower maintenance costs and a much smaller environmental footprint.” 

Capillary Concrete is currently looking for golf clubs to participate in a pilot programme to adapt the patented Hydroponics Turf System to local conditions and climates. Pilot partners will receive the new system, and also comprehensive support services enabling them to install, test and evaluate the benefits of the system for tees and greens.

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Headland Deliver Strong Fairways At Abridge GC

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Headland Deliver Strong Fairways At Abridge GC: In what was a challenging year for Greenkeepers up and down and the country, Course Manager at Abridge Golf Club Geoff Smith had no complaints with the way the course emerged from the prolonged period of hot weather. The fairways, in particular, came out looking better than ever, which he puts down to the timely installation of a new Perrot irrigation system, and his tried and tested nutritional programme from Headland Amenity. 

Geoff joined Abridge, a Regional Open Qualifier 2009-2013, as an assistant greenkeeper 17 years ago, on the back of learning his trade at The London Golf Club. “When I took charge 12 years ago in the autumn of 2006, I found out within my first 3 months at the helm that we were going to be hosting a large national tournament in the summer of 2007, which was a daunting challenge to say the least! I decided to call on the expertise of some trusted industry contacts – one of whom was Claire Harley of Headland Amenity.”

Headland Deliver Strong Fairways At Abridge GC

“All those years ago she recommended we apply Multigreen® 28-3-15 temperature-controlled release fertiliser on the fairways, a programme we still follow to this day.” Multigreen® is the only long-term fertiliser where nutrient release is governed by soil temperature only and not affected by other factors such as moisture, pH or microbial activity. Ideal for use on fairways, coarse turf or winter sports pitches, the prills contain their nutrients within a permeable resin-coating to prevent severe leaching loss.

“Abridge can be a bit of a grass factory but with the controlled release of Multigreen®, we get a consistent, healthy growth on the fairways that continues for months. Last year was a great test for our nutritional programme and we’ve emerged with flying colours!” Geoff applies Multigreen® once a year, and compliments this with a tank mix of TriCure and Elevate Fe, applied in September/October, to help in the management of Dollar Spot – another recommendation from Claire.

Geoff adds, “I have a great working relationship with Claire and know she’s always on the end of the phone if I need help or guidance. Undeniably, the Multigreen® feeds, together with a verti-drain and scarification programme, has helped me to produce fairways that our visitors and members describe as carpets! They love to play on them and that’s really what counts.”

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Sherriff’s Marathon Key For Trojans

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Sherriff’s Marathon Key For Trojans: With sports pitches facing heavy usage at the Trojan Club in Eastleigh, Hampshire, head groundsman Dave Edwards needs to ensure the turf stands up to the rigours of winter sports. It is for this reason he chooses Sherriff Amenity’s Marathon Sport extended release fertilisers.

The Trojan Sports Club is a community-based amateur sports club which is run by the members, for the members and is open to all. The club receives no ongoing support from local or national sports authorities, and is totally reliant on member subscriptions, bar takings and fund-raising for its continued survival; and in a true case of Trojan by name, Trojan by nature – survive it certainly does.

Sherriff’s Marathon Key For Trojans

Trojan is one of the largest amateur sports clubs in Hampshire and has a long history of playing sport at a high level including rugby, hockey, squash, cricket and football. Tasked with ensuring the quality and safety of the sports pitches is Dave Edwards, who aside from the help of volunteers two days a week, tends to the large site alone.

Dave has been in the turf industry for the entirety of his career and after a nine year spell as a groundsman at AFC Bournemouth, he went onto positions at Iford Golf Club, Christchurch F.C and Meyrick Park Golf Club before accepting the role of head groundsman at Trojan two and a half years ago.

It was in his previous employment that he first became acquainted with Sherriff Amenity’s Marathon Sport extended release fertilisers.

“I had previous experience of using the Marathon range and especially when I was at the football grounds – I didn’t really use anything else. I thought they were good slow release products which lasted an incredibly long time. In my opinion there are a lot of slow release products out there which are hit and miss and it can be a bit of a lottery but I was impressed with the Marathon range. In summer, the pitches used to really kick on when using them for the end of season renovations, so when I started here I thought it made sense to start using them again.”

The Marathon range is characterised by a balance of nutrients, the analyses of each product being geared to a specific growth stage or season. With five existing products in the Marathon Sport range – Autumn, Pre-Seed, Spring, Summer, Lawn Mini Pack– there truly is a solution for every requirement, no matter what the time of year.

Across the four rugby pitches, Dave’s maintenance programme sees him start the season with the Summer mixture 10.0.15, which he applies at 35g/m2 before turning to the Marathon Sport Autumn 7.0.21 to ensure good grass coverage over winter. Just through these two applications, Dave believes that it is all he needs to ensure the turf stays strong and healthy all year round.

“The products are very good in respect of providing the turf with a lovely colour and they are extremely hard wearing – it keeps the grass looking healthy but toughens it up as well which is what we need for the amount of usage. The pitches are used approximately 6-7 days a week through the winter and the slow release gives us great longevity, it doesn’t tail off after a few weeks.

“Overall, I would say that the Marathon Sport fertilisers are great value for money without a shadow of a doubt. The customer service I receive from Sherriff Amenity is also fantastic; I always get products on time and my representative David Evans is full of advice and very supportive.”

For further information, please contact Sherriff Amenity on 01638 721 888 or visit www.sherriffamenity.com

For more news and insightful views, you can follow Sherriff Amenity on Twitter @SherriffAmenity

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