Bayer’s New Total Herbicide

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Bayer’s New Total Herbicide: A new pre and early post-emergence total herbicide, for controlling annual and perennial weeds, has been released by Bayer into the Irish market, and is now available to purchase.

Pistol® Flex brings a new active ingredient, to the market for broad spectrum control over a wide range of uses including treatments applied to open soil, gravel surfaces, fence lines, industrial areas and railway ballast.

Bayer's New Total Herbicide

Greg Collins, of the Bayer Turf Solutions Team, explains that the herbicide’s dual active formulation contains 360g/kg diflufenican and 10g/kg iodosulfuron-methyl-sodium.

“This gives a two-pronged approach to weed control, targeting germinating seedlings through residual action, and the leaves on contact.

“The product provides excellent control for even the hardest to tackle weeds and is also compatible for use under a variety of tree and shrub species.”

Resistance management

Greg adds that using Pistol® Flex can help amenity contractors to minimise resistance as part of an integrated vegetation management (IVM) programme.

“The combined active ingredients give a dual mode of action and therefore reduce the chance of resistance occurring.

Flexible applications

“The herbicide can be used flexibly, as a standalone application on bare ground for pre-emergence stages. Alternatively, after the two leaf post emergence stage it can be mixed with glyphosate to enhance performance.

“And due to this robust performance in different environments, the product offers good residual control for three to four months, which may save the operator returning for repeated applications,” says Greg.

Pistol® Flex is available to purchase from Unichem and Sprayclear Environmental and is supplied in convenient 10g sachets to easily add into a knapsack or 500g packs for those that need to treat a larger area.

For more information visit: www.environmentalscience.bayer.co.uk  or contact the Turf Solutions Team at turfsolutions@bayer.com

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Don’t Get Held Hosta(ge) By Slugs

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Don’t Get Held Hosta(ge) By Slugs: Hostas are loved by many gardeners, as they have the most amazing foliage that can offer both dense ground cover and interesting structure to pots. They are resilient and easy to grow, thriving especially well in light to medium shade. They also often have beautiful fragrant flowers, making them a real asset to any garden.  

Growing hostas is easy, as they do not require much fussing, and will grow on any fertile, moisture-retentive garden soil. A bit of organic matter can be added to soil where there is not much shade and the earth is dry, but once they have fully established, after around five years, they will need little to no interference from the gardener.

Don’t Get Held Hosta(ge) By Slugs

The main problem, as any gardener will agree, when it comes to hostas, is the fact that slugs adore them. They can be entirely decimated early on in the season if preventative measures are not taken.

A great, and easy, way to make sure that your hostas are protected, is by watering on nematodes. As nematodes are able to travel through the soil, to where the newly hatched and young slugs dwell, they are able to attack them before they are even in sight, unlike slug pellets. A regular regime of using Nemaslug every six weeks is the most effective way to keep slugs at bay throughout the growing season, and will help to ensure that your hostas survive another year!

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Norfolk FA Sign Up Replay

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Norfolk FA Sign Up Replay: The Football Development Centre at Flegg High Ormiston Academy in Norfolk, known as the FDC @ Flegg, is one of three facilities run by Norfolk County FA. Elliot Pride, the FDC @ Flegg Development Officer oversees the full size 3G pitch at the site, managing everything from accounts, bookings and even getting hands on with maintaining the pitch. Assisting Elliot in keeping the surface looking and playing at its best are synthetic specialists Replay Maintenance.

“I’ve been here since we opened the facility 18 months ago and in that time, we’ve made great strides in getting the local community involved with football” explains Elliot. Term-time the pitch is used in school hours by the pupils, then at evenings, weekends and during school holidays Norfolk FA take over offering pay & play, walking football, County 5IVES and a range of pitch hire slots. “We’re lucky to be supported by a number of local clubs who use the pitch for training and matches. The pitch see’s roughly 25-30 hours of play per week, with that figure increasing year on year.”

Norfolk FA Sign Up Replay

A County Partner to Norfolk FA, Replay have been involved with the maintenance of the FDC’s since the original facility opened in Norwich eight years ago. “We were pleased with the work and results achieved with Replay there, when the installer-provided maintenance expired on the Flegg pitch we decided to formulate a contract with them to maintain all three centres.” The service agreement see’s Replay conducting six Revive® visits per year to remove contaminates and de-compact and rotate the infill which is then regraded and dressed back into the surface. This results in enhanced porosity and improved playing characteristics.

“Communication with Replay is great. I have a calendar showing the planned visits for the coming year which gives me plenty of notice to liaise with the school to ensure the pitch is free. On visit days, the operators are normally here by the time I arrive at 8am, getting on with the job and are normally away by midday. Following the visit, we then get a report detailing the work conducted, infill levels etc. We also receive weekly emails to submit our hours of play which then generates an ‘actual hours’ figure, from which we can work out how many hours of in-house maintenance we need to conduct.”

Final word from Elliot, “It’s great to have Replay in conducting a deeper clean every couple of months, topping up the brushing and debris collecting we do ourselves. Although the surface is relatively new, it’s important to consider that they only have a limited lifespan so working hard now to keep the pitch in good condition, should help to keep it safe and playable for years to come.”

For more information, visit: www.replaymaintenance.co.uk

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Irrigation Control Helps Burnley

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Irrigation Control Helps Burnley: Burnley FC’s Gawthorpe Training Centre has reached its next stage of development with a Desso Grassmaster pitch, reconstructed by J Mallinson (Ormskirk) and irrigation by Irrigation Control. These companies have been exclusive contractors at the club’s Turf Moor stadium and at Gawthorpe since 2005 when there was just the one self-contained training pitch featuring Rain Bird’s in-turf pop up and perimeter sprinklers, irrigation control system, pumping station and water storage.

In 2010 Turf Moor underwent a pitch reconstruction and the opportunity was taken to introduce a Rain Bird irrigation system. 2014 saw an expansion of the training facilities with a new pump house and Rain Bird control system at the heart and the Barnfield Training Centre, opened in 2017.

Irrigation Control Helps Burnley

The new top pitch has 20 Rain Bird perimeter sprinklers and in-turf rotors. It has been integrated into Gawthorpe’s site wide irrigation system with the aim of providing water to any given pitch in the quickest time at lowest cost. This considers different surface types, sheltered or exposed areas, wind speeds, rainfall, sunlight and evapotranspiration rates.

Rain Bird control system’s cycle is based on calculations for the whole Gawthorpe site. Irrigation is overnight when temperatures and wind speeds are lowest and evapotranspiration rates are low. Through its laptop interface, the control system gives the information that groundstaff need. Ultimately it decides which sprinklers should be turned on/off, what irrigation flows need to be delivered to specified pitches  at maximum efficiency.

Rain Bird 8005 in-turf rotor sprinklers and 950E valve-in-head perimeter sprinklers are used throughout Gawthorpe in addition to the Single Site Control System with evapotranspiration based scheduling, customised graphics and mapping. “We specify Rain Bird because of product quality and reliability. We are impressed with the technological advances developed for the sports turf market over recent years,” says Lee Knight, Contracts Director, Irrigation Control.

With wi-fi, Groundsman Barry O’Brien and his team can interact remotely with the control system via a smart phone App and can upgrade to a Rain Bird weather station. Mapping functionality gives a visual site-wide overview of the irrigation system. Irrigation Control has also installed Thermaturf undersoil heating to the Gawthorpe match pitch.

Originally irrigation was required for turf health and to ensure the best growing conditions for soil based pitches. Now it is also about creating conditions on different surfaces that coaches require such as a quick slick surface or a pitch with a match day feel so extra irrigation may be immediately needed.

“We enjoy long term relationships with our pitch and irrigation system suppliers. An understanding of what we are trying to achieve and familiarity with the site is vital. The continuity gives us peace of mind, “says Groundsman Barry O’Brien.

For more information, visit: www.irrigationcontrol.co.uk

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Rody Kilbride Wins Award

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Rody Kilbride Wins Award: The winner of the 2018 Irish Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award, sponsored by ICL and Syngenta, has been confirmed as Rody Kilbride from Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo.

For a number of years, ICL and Syngenta have been proud sponsors of the Irish Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award – which is part of the Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board’s (KWETB) Greenkeeping Training Course.

Rody Kilbride Wins Award

Colman Warde, ICL Country Manager for Ireland presented Rody with his trophy and a gift voucher at Naas Golf Club, Co Kildare said: “As a company we are very proud to continue our sponsorship of this award. The training course is a fantastic opportunity which helps prepare the students for a promising future in this industry. It was great to present the award to Rody, who is a good example of enthusiastic, young greenkeepers. It’s good to see so many students interested in this course because they are the future of the industry.”

“Aisling does a tremendous job arranging the course and it’s great to see the likes of David Behan from Naas Golf Club, David Callanan from Beech Park Golf Club, Mark Kirwan from the Heritage Golf Club and Tom Carew from Craddockstown put so much time and effort into helping train these students” commented Colman.

For the duration of the 48 week course Rody was placed at Beech Park Golf Club under the watchful eye of Course Superintendent David Callanan. With the student course now complete Rody has successfully gained a full-time greenkeepers job at Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Course in Co Limerick, with the newly redeveloped course, designed by Tom Fazio, due to open in April 2018.

Now in its twelfth year, the course continues to go from strength to strength, which is testament to the hard work and meticulous planning carried out by Aisling Mahon, course co-ordinator who’s commitment to nurturing the future of greenkeeping has ensured the success of the course. Aisling is delighted to have seen the course open a number of doors for aspiring greenkeepers, including full time employment, further education and oversees internships at prestigious golf courses such as Bay Hill and Pebble Beach in Ohio, USA.

Last year’s winner, Tiernan Crawford, impressed Naas Golf Club so much throughout the duration of the course that he was offered a full time greenkeeping position. He has been working in this role for the past year and is now moving to Beech Park Golf Club – a position which commences in just a couple of weeks. He intends on furthering his education and will be studying Sportsturf Science Level 6 in September 2019.

William Fitzpatrick, winner of the 2016 award, has been busy working and continuing his studies as well as becoming a first-time father. He is working full-time at Portarlington Golf Club and has just recently graduated from Teagasc College of Amenity Horticulture, National Botanic Garden, Glasnevin, Dublin where he studied Sportsturf Science. William has also volunteered at a number of tournaments and is working hard to progress within the industry.

To make any enquiries about the Greenkeeping Training Course please email greenkeepingcourse@gmail.com

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

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