GroundsFest Academy’s Free Robotics & Green Innovations Seminar

GroundsFest Academy’s Free Robotics & Green Innovations Seminar: The GroundsFest Academy is set to host another free educational event on 31 July 2025, focusing on the latest robotics and sustainable technologies in the groundscare and landscaping industries.

Taking place at Lantra House, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, this CPD-accredited day brings together leading experts from Husqvarna, Turf Tank, and Lantra to explore how innovation is reshaping outdoor spaces.

GroundsFest Academy's Free Robotics & Green Innovations Seminar

GroundsFest Academy’s Free Robotics & Green Innovations Seminar

Attendees will gain hands-on experience with robotic mowers, battery-powered machinery, and automated line-marking technology, alongside expert-led talks and practical training sessions.

Topics include:

  • The benefits of robotic mowing systems and how to implement them
  • Sustainable machinery solutions and green technology trends
  • Live robotic line marking demonstrations
  • Career guidance and training course insights from Lantra

The event runs from 09:00 to 15:30, and is completely free to attend, with CPD points and certificates provided to all participants. Lunch and refreshments will also be provided.

Bradley Tennant, Director of Education for GroundsFest Academy, commented:

“The GroundsFest Academy is about bringing innovation and education together in a way that’s practical, engaging, and completely free to access. This Robotics and Green Innovations day is a chance for professionals to get hands-on with the technology that’s changing our industry, while also gaining CPD points and valuable knowledge to take back to their teams or their own projects.”

The GroundsFest Academy is made possible thanks to the ongoing success of the main GroundsFest event, with profits being reinvested directly back into the industry. This commitment ensures that professionals at all levels have access to free, high-quality training opportunities throughout the year – helping to support long-term growth, innovation, and education across the groundscare and landscaping sectors.

Register for your free place at www.groundsfestacademy.com

You can also follow GroundsFest on X, Facebook and Instagram @GroundsFest for much more news, reviews and insightful views

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Investment shapes industry-leading seed facility at DLF

Investment shapes industry-leading seed facility at DLF: Staff and members of the amenity trade press were recently invited for an exclusive look at the next phase of the £4.5 million facilities upgrade at DLF’s UK headquarters at Inkberrow.

Officially opened by John Larsen, VP Sales and Marketing Greater Europe and DLF UK Managing Director Tim Kerridge, the events in June marked the completion of several major developments including the fully automated Titan mixing plant, robotic packing lines, expanded UK native wildflower production and brand-new trials and showcase area deemed ‘A Living Catalogue’.

Investment shapes industry-leading seed facility at DLF

Investment shapes industry-leading seed facility at DLF

The major project at DLF’s amenity operations centre has been underway for close to two years and, now complete, provides a unique and industry-leading centre for seed trials, product development, training and education of staff, distributors and customers.

With its 48-bin twin mixer and fully automated packing line, Titan is now the UK’s biggest seed mixing plant. Its introduction has brought significant increases in capacity, while reducing manual handling and lead times – ensuring that, even during peak season, seed is mixed, packed and dispatched with both speed and accuracy. Titan is at the heart of DLF’s operation, supplying more than 14,000 tonnes to the UK market, correlating to almost 30,000 individual customer shipments.

Impressive scale is also now demonstrated by DLF’s UK wildflower production, with 80 acres over three sites producing 50 different native flowering species. Expertly managed by Klaas Broersma and a dedicated wildflower production team, the meadows are harvested and cleaned in-house to ensure the highest quality, before being incorporated into DLF’s native Pro Flora range and Your Countryside farm stewardship mixes.

The bright blooms of native and non-native mixtures from the Pro Flora and ColourBoost collections were looking glorious in the Worcestershire sunshine on their own demonstration plots as part of the wider DLF Showcase. The Showcase headlines 12 acres of space dedicated to amenity seed trials, allowing visitors to observe current and future species and cultivars all in one place. It will also be the base for a sizeable programme of UK testing which feeds into the global picture of climate and disease tolerance trials.

The centrepiece of the Showcase is the new ‘Living Catalogue’ – a sports and landscape zone sown with mixtures from across the DLF portfolio. Featuring a hybrid winter sports pitch, cricket wicket, tennis court, horse racecourse and golf tee, fairway and green, all maintained by Head Grounds Manager Matt Lewis, the space will become the hub for training and education as well as providing a relaxing space for staff to unwind and enjoy.

“We’re incredibly pleased to be able to finally share this fantastic asset with our team, the press and the wider industry” comments Amenity Sales & Marketing Manager Derek Marriott-Smith. “The new additions and significant investment put us in a fantastic position to support the needs of the sectors in which we operate both today and tomorrow.”

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Inside the life of Wimbledon groundsman

Inside the life of Wimbledon groundsman: Neil Stubley is the man in charge of getting the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s courts ready for action.

When you are responsible for keeping the Wimbledon courts so lush, green, firm and ready for play there is no rest at all for the man in charge. Neil, 56, is one Wimbledon’s hard-working unsung heroes. His official title is head of courts and horticulture.

Inside the life of Wimbledon groundsman

Inside the life of Wimbledon groundsman

Read the full story here

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Premier League and STRI Group document benchmark for pitch quality

Premier League and STRI Group document benchmark for pitch quality: The Premier League, widely considered the world’s most competitive football league, understandably put the playing surface at the heart of everything they do. The recently launched Premier League Pitch Standards Framework is a resource that documents the requirements of establishing and maintaining an elite surface, that performs to the highest standards and keeps players safe.

Serving as a reference for stakeholders involved in pitch management, club management and league organisers, it outlines the Premier League’s rules and expectations. It’s packed with guidance on everything from pitch construction profiles, drainage and irrigation to hosting concerts and managing pitches in winter weather, alongside a raft of informative case studies.

Premier League and STRI Group document benchmark for pitch quality

Premier League and STRI Group document benchmark for pitch quality

This is the first official document of its kind published by the Premier League and has been a truly collaborative effort – a key factor in its depth and quality. Authored by highly experienced consultants at STRI Group, the process involved consultation with senior grounds people from all Premier League clubs and the Grounds Management Association.

Adam Kaliniecki, Football Operations Manager for the Premier League, commented, “This is a fantastic document which reflects the hard work and professionalism of grounds teams in the Premier League who work tirelessly to ensure our pitches are the best in the world.

“The expertise and knowledge of the consultants from STRI was invaluable in leading the project. The data they gathered and interpreted was a vital part of the process, and the ongoing collaboration with grounds teams resulted in a resource that effectively benchmarks best practice in the industry.”

The document is available online here: https://www.premierleague.com/about/publications 

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The new Ariens Summit Pro series

The new Ariens Summit Pro series: In a seasonal business such as lawn care, a service provider must be able to rely on its machinery. Breakdowns and poor performance cost money, time and nerves.

Professional service providers around the world rely on the dependability of the Ariens Summit Pro series. Operating times of 500 to 1,000 hours per season are not uncommon. Ariens is now bringing the proven fleet star to Europe.

The new Ariens Summit Pro series

The new Ariens Summit Pro series

Professional users around the world place the same demands on their mowers. They must be robust, deliver a consistently high-quality cutting pattern and have a long service life and low downtimes – ideally complemented by long service intervals and an extended manufacturer’s warranty. The new Ariens Summit Pro series was developed precisely to meet these requirements for tough continuous use in a professional environment.  Maximum durability, a perfect cut and high ride comfort culminate in the new zero-turn mowers.

The new series comprises the Ariens Summit Pro 300 (26 hp) in three cutting widths from
122 cm to 152 centimetres and the Ariens Summit Pro 500 (27 hp) in two cutting widths (152 centimetres or 183 centimetres). With a total of five variants, there is a suitable model for every service provider. Even the compact model, the Summit Pro 348, achieves an area output of up to 17,800 m² per hour at a speed of 14.5 km/h. The largest model, the Ariens Summit Pro 572 with a cutting width of 183 centimetres, is made for extreme area performance and the largest areas. With a speed of 16 km/h, it achieves a maximum area output of 29,500 m² per hour.

The design: Robust and stable

The new Ariens Envy Pro mowing deck ensures optimum grass distribution. It is made from
4.6 mm thick sheet steel, it is extremely robust and can withstand years of intensive use. Its great depth makes it perfect for installing the optional mulching kit. The fully welded, one-piece tubular frame is also extremely solid. The large square tubes can withstand shocks and torsion for years.

The new high-performance blade spindles of the Ariens Summit Pro models are made of cold-forged aluminium. This makes them particularly resistant to vibration and dissipates any heat generated. They are equipped with two double ball bearings. The entire unit is sealed to prevent corrosion caused by the ingress of moisture and dirt and to ensure a long service life and low downtimes.

Made for everyday service provider life

The new large zero-turn mowers from Ariens are fitted with premium Kawaski engines, which are made for the demanding conditions of everyday service work. The Kawaski FX engines with 852 cm³ displacement, V-twin, double air filter, high-performance oil cooler, electronic ignition and internally ventilated twin carburettor deliver full power at all times.

Constantly refilling the tank costs time and nerves. That’s why all models in the Ariens Summit Pro series have an extra-large 48 litre tank for a long working day.

The high-quality hydrostats from Parker are known for their smooth response when changing from forwards to reverse. The Summit Pro 300 models are fitted with professional Parker HTJ hydrostats, which are designed for a maximum speed of
17 km/h and operate with a 12 cm³ high-performance pump. The filters are easily accessible from the rear for simple maintenance. Thanks to the fully integrated design with few components, the risk of oil loss is significantly reduced. The Summit Pro 500 models utilise Parker HTG hydrostats, which enable a maximum speed of up to 24 km/h with a 16 cm³ high-performance pump. The particularly efficient gerotor motors in the hydrostats save energy, allowing up to ten per cent more motor power to reach the blades.

The wheels: puncture-proof at the front and powerful at the rear

Large drive wheels are essential for riding comfort and enable high riding speeds. With a diameter of 26 inches (Summit Pro 500) or 24 inches (Summit Pro 300), they can be ridden with low air pressure. This ensures a high level of suspension comfort. Unevenness is levelled out and it is easier to ride over kerbs.

The 15-inch, 360-degree swivelling front wheels are semi-pneumatic. This means that they are completely filled with a rubber foam. This prevents flat tyres and pressure loss.

The air-sprung Ariens Air-Ride seat (Summit Pro 500) can be optimally adjusted to the rider’s wishes at the touch of a switch. Special vibration isolators decouple the entire seat from vertical shocks. The extra high seat backrest, the adjustable armrests, the extra thick padding and the integrated lumbar support offer maximum seating comfort.

Thanks to helpful and useful original accessories, which are optionally available, the models in the new Ariens Summit Pro series can be perfectly customised to suit personal requirements.

Plannable costs

The 5-year manufacturer’s warranty is particularly noteworthy. It makes operating costs easier to plan and supports smooth processes. The Ariens Summit Pro 300 comes with a manufacturer’s warranty of 5 years or 1,250 hours, while the Ariens Summit Pro 500
a warranty of 5 years or 1,500 hours. In the first two years, the guarantee applies without an hour limit. The official guarantee conditions of AriensCo GmbH must be observed.

The Ariens Summit Pro zero-turn mowers will be available from the 2026 mowing season.

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