MND campaign celebrated at RHS Flower Show

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MND campaign celebrated at RHS Flower Show: A garden dedicated to Doddie Weir and his charity for research into Motor Neurone Disease will be showcased at the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park 2024 this summer as the show celebrates its 25th anniversary.

Designed by Pip Probert, My Name’5 Doddie will incorporate the colours of the player’s own private tartan, sculptures representing players in a line out, rugby goal posts and a water feature based on the tartan flower brooch used by the charity.

MND campaign celebrated at RHS Flower Show

MND campaign celebrated at RHS Flower Show

Weir was one of rugby’s most recognisable personalities. The Scot revealed in June 2017 he was suffering from MND and launched the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation in November of that year with a vision of ridding the world of the disease. The garden’s scheme will represent the number 5 – his position in the sport.

Other gardens include The 1804 Garden by Carolyn Hardern and Jon Jarvis, the design duo behind last year’s Best Show Garden. Hardern and Jarvis continue their campaign to support construction workers, this time focusing on how a garden can be designed to mitigate against the risks of melanoma caused by excessive sun exposure.

Skills of local artisans and crafts people are celebrated in The Grant Horticulture Arts & Crafts Garden by Callum Bain MacKay. Inspired by the arts and crafts movement, billowing grasses, multi-stemmed trees and soft pastel toned perennials are interspersed with a hand-milled and hand-constructed timber pavilion, and hand-crafted wooden patio furniture and creasing tile sculptures, with materials sourced locally to emphasise sustainability.

The final Show Garden comes from Ollie Pike, with This Garden Isn’t Finished Without You, sponsored by the Methodist Church, showcasing the church’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

In the Terrace Gardens, Tom Saunders will bring a touch of the Andes to a Peak District setting with The Orchid Garden, after the designer’s travels to South America where he saw the flowers growing in their natural ecosystem and realised that native orchids can be grown domestically and set within dry stone walls.

Sophie Godber’s Big Picture Garden highlights conscious consumerism, embracing a repurposed appearance with objects and materials sourced from a 19th century farmstead to demonstrate how building a new garden doesn’t need to cost the earth, while Hilary Newhall’s The Secret Garden: For Us, By Us raises awareness of autistic adults and the challenges they encounter, particularly in employment and being a business owner.

This year will also see the return of the Long Borders. Women’s rights and the colours of the Women’s Suffrage Movement are highlighted in Susan Booth’s garden, Barbie says, ‘Women can be anything they want.’ (On the shoulders of giants), complete with glitter ball. Other themes touched upon include the Cheshire rail network, LGBTQ+ rights, the Manchester skyline and an edible family garden.

This year, the show has also introduced a new competition, RHS Career Changers of the Year, reflecting the increasing number of people who are choosing to enter horticulture and garden design. The show will also host the coveted RHS Young Designer of the Year competition, launching the careers of many a top name talent. Further details of entrants for these categories will be announced in due course.

The next time that RHS Flower Show Tatton Park will be on the site will be in 2027, as part of a roster of changes to the shows schedule announced by the RHS earlier this year.

Sarah Poll, RHS Head of Shows Development, said: “What a fantastic line-up for the 25th anniversary of the wonderful RHS Flower Show Tatton Park. From gardens addressing illnesses such as MND to sustainability, arts and crafts, orchids and even Barbie – we’re delighted to showcase the best of cutting-edge design and thought provoking gardens. We’ve also got a superb range of food and drinks, live entertainment and shopping opportunities so everyone, young or old, families or individuals can come and enjoy a great day out.”

RHS Flower Show Tatton Park takes place from 17-21 July. Tickets can be bought here: www.rhs.org.uk/tatton

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Rolawn partners with Wildflower Turf

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Rolawn partners with Wildflower Turf: Leading turf grower, Rolawn, is delighted to announce a new partnership with wildflower turf pioneers, Wildflower Turf Ltd.

For almost 50 years, Rolawn has been at the forefront of market trends and developments in the horticulture and construction sectors, recently introducing biodiversity supportive products under the BioScapes brand. Wildflower turf is a logical range extension as the business continues to help customers to comply with environmental legislative change.

Rolawn partners with Wildflower Turf

Rolawn partners with Wildflower Turf

Rolawn’s Sales and Marketing Director, Jonathan Hill, explains why Rolawn has partnered with Wildflower Turf, “The parities between our organisations made the decision to work together very straightforward. Our customer base has high expectations from suppliers, demanding responsibly manufactured products supported by first-rate service. Wildflower Turf’s depth of understanding of market demands and forces is clear to see and aligns with these needs.

“Having developed a transformative product, Wildflower Turf Ltd has led the market with a very similar approach to our own – prioritising technical excellence and best advice. We are excited to see how our collaboration will help the industry make a greater contribution to biodiversity net gain.”

The arrangement is a reciprocal one which will see Rolawn’s market-leading Medallion Turf available via the Wildflower Turf team.

James Hewetson-Brown, MD at Wildflower Turf Ltd, says, “We’re delighted to welcome Rolawn as an Authorised Reseller. Rolawn’s reputation for excellence and commitment to sustainable landscapes aligns perfectly with our own mission.

Meadows are vital for both the environment and pollinators. This partnership expands our customer reach, allowing us to create more biodiverse spaces and help restore nature’s balance.

Additionally, by selling Rolawn products that complement our wildflower offerings, we provide a more comprehensive solution for our customers.”

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Campey Australasia at ASTMA 2024

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Campey Australasia at ASTMA 2024: Campey Australasia was launched in 2022 and is delighted to announce that it will be exhibiting at ASTMA 2024.

This expansion by Campey Turf Care Systems has led to an established presence in Australasia delivering the leading machinery and customer service which Campey  is known for across the globe. Through appointing local established dealers, such as Fernland, Mexted Sports Turf and Turfmate, Australasia now has access to some of the most renowned turf maintenance equipment in the world.

Campey Australasia at ASTMA 2024

Campey Australasia at ASTMA 2024

We are delighted to being able to highlight a wide selection of these products, some well-known and others new, designed to address any turf maintenance issues across the spectrum of natural turf sports pitches and golf courses. Products such as such as scarifiers, brushes, rakes, drag mats, sprayers, including Campey™ Uni-Scratch, UniRake, Campey™ Speedresser and the ML Sprayer.

The Australian arm of the brand is overseen by Campey export sales manager Nick Brown, who will be there, along with representation from our dealers to explain how the company operates and to provide you with valuable insights in tackling your individual turf maintenance concerns.

It is through working closely with dealers and customers on an individual basis, through export development, Campey has earned the trust of greenkeepers and groundsmen worldwide delivering natural approaches to rejuvenating the soil.

We look forward to welcoming you to our stand in Brisbane!

For further information, please visit our website: www.campeyaustralasia.comOr contact Nick Brown at nick@campeyturfcare.com

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Floors Castle turn to Foamstream

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Floors Castle turn to Foamstream: A Foamstream L12 system is delivering effective non-herbicidal weed control and labour savings too, for the team at Floors Castle.

Tasked with keeping on top of a variety of weed species within the picturesque grounds and gardens, Head Gardener Simon McManus explains how together with significantly reducing the time spent hand-weeding, the L12 has also been utilised as a cleaning system to give the Castle a perfect photo finish.

Floors Castle turn to Foamstream

Floors Castle turn to Foamstream

Described as ‘The Gem of the Scottish Borders’, Floors Castle is the centrepiece of the beautiful Roxburghe Estate, built in 1721 and today welcoming visitors from far and wide to explore and enjoy its scenic surroundings – including approximately four acres of ornamental grounds and gardens. “The walled garden comprises four big herbaceous borders and we also have a small vegetable garden as well as private gardens which aren’t open to the public – all needing to look good year-round” explains Simon, who has been at Floors Castle for almost twenty years.

With just a team of three, plus himself, the facility were in need of both a quicker and more environmentally-friendly weed control method to traditional treatments with chemicals and labour-intensive hand-weeding. “We took delivery of our L12 unit from Weedingtech last year after an impressive demonstration. As a new technology I have to admit there was some initial scepticism but the results of the trial spoke for themselves and since our purchase, we have only discovered more and more benefits!”

The active ingredient in Foamstream is hot water, insulated by a 100% organic, plant-based foam which keeps the water in the kill-zone for long enough to effectively eliminate a range of weeds and other unwanted vegetation. The ‘plug and play’ L12 delivery system is compact and portable, with a range of wand options making it ideal for all areas and applications.

“It’s used regularly throughout the spring and summer. We went out one day in April to treat a border thick with weeds which would have previously taken the four of us a day to clear. One two-hour treatment with Foamstream and by the next morning it’s all dead. It’s also fantastic at killing moss and algae which were becoming a problem to treat around the site with the ongoing withdrawal of chemical solutions.”

Simon continues, “Over the winter when the weeds are less of an issue, we found we could use the L12 as a pressure washer to clean the roof of the glasshouses – and it did another brilliant job! It’s clear this machine is going to become a key part of our overall maintenance programme.”

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Protect turf from the inside out

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Protect turf from the inside out: Greenkeepers across the UK are turning to strobilurin-based fungicide Insignia® to keep their turf protected this summer. With its key ingredients helping to prime the turf immune system, resist disease attacks, withstand heat and drought, and grow more efficiently, Insignia® works in a variety of ways to keep turf green, strong and healthy.

As a fungicide, Insignia® works by severely inhibiting the mitochondrial respiration inside the cells of pathogenic fungi, preventing the breakdown of carbon that is required for fungi to produce the energy they need to function. As well as stopping fungi, it also works by triggering a cascade of positive events which lead to plant health benefits. In a nutshell, it works both by stopping negative forces, and encouraging the good.

Protect turf from the inside out

Protect turf from the inside out

At this time of year, red thread is a particular threat that Insignia® helps to banish. The fungal infection causes slow growing grass and red to coral-pink strands – not ideal on prized pieces of turf! Insignia® controls diseases like this and dollar spot – which creates pale, blighted areas of turf – ensuring continued grass health throughout the summer.

While it’s suitable for application all year round, Insignia® must be applied in temperatures between 5-25°C for best results. Unlike other fungicides, it is ‘rain-fast’ after only one hour, meaning that greenkeepers can use the product without fear that it will immediately be rained off the plant.

An active ingredient within Insignia®, Pyraclastrobin, serves as a weather-resistant reservoir, meaning that the health-giving formula is released across the surface of the grass over several weeks. Not only that but translaminar movement through the leaf builds a concentration of the active substance on both sides of the leaf – meaning continued protection for the whole plant.

With unpredictable weather in the UK becoming the norm, it’s also vital to be able to rely on the weather-resistant properties of any products used. Insignia® helps turf withstand drought and heat, while also helping grass to regulate responses during stressful events. It’s no wonder that Insignia® is proving so popular with greenkeepers interested in keeping turf green and healthy this year!

To find out more about Insignia®, visit Insignia – BASF Pest Control Solutions UK or to explore BASF’s wider turf products, visit https://www.pestcontrol.basf.co.uk/en/Products/Product-innovation/Turf/

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