Seeding is simple with the Dennis S500

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Seeding is simple with the Dennis S500: The Dennis S500 Plus seeder is helping to get the lawns into shape at Cheltenham Ladies’ College according to Ross Spry, Head of Grounds and Gardens.

After initially starting his career in greenkeeping, Ross Spry has been working for various colleges in the UK for over a decade. At Cheltenham Ladies’ College he oversees a grounds team consisting of seven members of staff who tend to the sports facilities and gardens.

Seeding is simple with the Dennis S500

Seeding is simple with the Dennis S500

Somewhat of a perfectionist, Ross recognised that the College lawns needed some attention and was quick to act.

“The lawns were not in the best shape, and there was a lot of weeds and moss, and thatch build-up in them,” he said. “We bought a scarifier and an aerator to try and alleviate this problem, but I wanted a machine to put seed back into the ground effectively rather than just broadcasting it.

“We looked at various brands of seeders and we found the Dennis S500 Plus to be the best for us.”

Ideal for bowls, cricket, golf and other fine turf and ornamental lawn areas, the dual-purpose Dennis S500 Plus has a 510mm (20″) operating width complete with interchangeable spiker and slotter reels. The spiker reel punches through the ‘surface pan’ allowing air, water and fertiliser to penetrate the root zone, while the slotter reel creates ideal seed germination pockets thus reducing seed wastage. Using the optional seed box attachment will ensure grass seed is dropped onto the ground at the prescribed rate and brushed into the pockets.

“We normally seed in the spring and autumn and before using the S500 Plus we apply a selective weedkiller to try and get rid of the weeds and moss,” said Ross.

“It is so simple to use, and it does exactly what we want it to do. It’s not heavy and it is nice and compact. Some of the lawns at the school are very small, so to have a seeder the size of the S500 Plus is ideal. It is also a lot more accurate than doing it by hand – you get more contact with the soil and better germination.

“The S500 Plus’ best feature is just how user friendly it is and it makes the task of seeding enjoyable.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact Dennis 01332 824 777 or visit www.dennisuk.com

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow Dennis on Twitter and Instagram @DennisMowers and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/DennisMowersUK. You can also view the latest Dennis videos by visiting www.youtube.com/DennisMowers

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Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC selects Wiedenmann GXi8 HD

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Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC selects Wiedenmann GXi8 HD: Only a handful of top golf courses can boast a lighthouse at the end of their road. Fewer still have pods of dolphins swimming regularly on a rising tide, literally, minutes away.

The award-winning Fortrose & Rosemarkie Golf Links, on the Black Isle, near Inverness, is steeped in both history and nature.

Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC selects Wiedenmann GXi8 HD

Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC selects Wiedenmann GXi8 HD

Unsurprisingly, its golfing pedigree is also on point; a Championship links course, it is the 15th oldest recorded club (1793) and was redesigned by the legendary James Braid in 1932.

Head Greenkeeper, George Paterson, knows a thing or two about links golf. His greenkeeping journey includes spells at The County Sligo Golf Club, Rosses Point, Scotscraigs Golf Club and Moray Golf Club.

In September, George said goodbye to his 20-year-old Wiedenmann Terra XP6 deep aerator, trading it in for a new GXi8 HD.  The deal was struck with John Morton, Regional Sales Manager at Wiedenmann UK’s Scottish dealer, Fairways GM, who sold him a Wiedenmann SL6 Terra Spike six years previously.

“This investment is about productivity,” said George, “We’ve chosen the best tools that let us mix and match our approach to aeration.  Speed is now more important than depth because of the shingly nature of our soils.

“Compared to the XP6, the GXi 8 is much quicker. Being 20 cm wider is helpful, but ultimately our focus is to cover large areas very neatly in a shorter amount of time. With a narrower, slower machine, intentions were always to get around as many fairways when we could, but for lots of reasons we’d get diverted or miss the window. We’ll be far more efficient and get aeration done. This fits our John Deere 4610 perfectly, just skirts outside the tractor wheels and leaves very little disruption, even with a fair amount of heave.

“The SL6 is on our John Deere 2720 compact tractor and does a great job on hard-to-reach tees and greens. Mid-October we cone tined greens prior to overseeding and top dressing, so it’s still very much in our plans. The GXi 8 will take over some of its work though, it can do places where access isn’t an issue.

“We purchased multi-tine heads, nail tines and solid tines for the GXi8 to bring variety. The cluster heads (multi tine holders) were the first thing we used. Our greens were still reasonably firm, so didn’t want too much disturbance, but we gave them a quick treatment to help any heavy or freak showers to drain quickly from the surface. We inserted four 5 mm nail tines (5 mm/135 mm) to each multi tine head, set to 50 mm spacings, to a depth of about 100 mm on two rows of the machine.

“It’s not quite the same as deep aeration, but a very useful exercise. It just gives the tops of the greens a bit of air.  Annually, we’ll do that twice across the summer.  The greens have now also been solid tined with 12 mm tines to a depth of 180 mm with 4% heave.

“For the fairways, we’ll take a bigger solid tine, so 20 mm, but work will be much faster than before. We need to be mindful of play.  Even in winter our course remains very busy, visitor traffic tails off a little, but we stay open when weather affects other courses nearby, so we don’t see a big drop in numbers.”

George is assisted by a team of three qualified greenkeepers and a new apprentice.

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Enjoy free beverages courtesy of Green-tech at Futurescape

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Enjoy free beverages courtesy of Green-tech at Futurescape: Green-tech will be exhibiting at Futurescape 2023 on stand E50, and visitors will have the opportunity to meet the team, view the latest products, and enjoy freshly brewed coffee from their new Barista.

Futurescape 2023 is being held at ExCel London and is heralded as the UK’s largest landscape expo & trade event, with seminars and live debates planned across two days – the 21st and 22nd of November.

Enjoy free beverages courtesy of Green-tech at Futurescape

Enjoy free beverages courtesy of Green-tech at Futurescape

The team will be profiling the recently launched TreeParker® Cell System; a structural soil cell system that offers the most ideal circumstances for trees to thrive beneath the pavement in an urban environment.

As the UK’s leading provider of tree planting materials, Green-tech offers a comprehensive choice of urban and rural tree protection products. Over the last few years, the company has been focusing heavily on providing sustainable and environmentally friendly choices.  On their stand, they will showcase their range of biodegradable tree-planting shelters.

A comprehensive seminar and product demonstration program is scheduled across the two days, and Green-tech’s Specification Manager Seraya Sigsworth will be in the Soft Landscaping Demo area at 11 am on Wednesday 22nd to discuss the TreeParker® system. The demonstration will showcase the system where simplicity characterises the system.

Green-tech is also the headline sponsor of The Pro Landscaper 30 Under 30: The Next Generation initiative, which searches for the most impressive young people in landscaping and shines a spotlight on the future of landscaping. An award ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday 21st at Futurescape at 12pm to celebrate the 30 winners, including Green-tech’s own George Barton.

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Performance assured for Conservation Contractors

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Performance assured for Conservation Contractors: The combination of impressive performance and outstanding service has sealed the deal on a GreenMech EVO 205D woodchipper for leading Wiltshire-based arborists Conservation Contractors.

While the EVO 205D is the first machine on their fleet from GreenMech, it has quickly cemented its status as the most-utilised, with peace of mind that the daily demands will not result in costly downtime thanks to the first-class back-up support from local dealers GA Groundcare Ltd.

Performance assured for Conservation Contractors

Performance assured for Conservation Contractors

Entrusted on a wide variety of projects from high-end domestic to commercial, including local authority work and nationwide contracts which sees them responsible for the ongoing external maintenance of hospital and residential homes, the EVO 205D has been busy since its delivery in July 2023. Daniel Butler, Manager of the Arb Division, explains how this demand, coupled with previous struggles with breakdowns and repairs lead Conservation Contractors to GreenMech.

“We pride ourselves on delivering the very best service to all of our customers and this means having equipment that is fully-operational and at our disposal, at all times. We don’t have the luxury of a raft of spare chippers in the yard. If something fails, we need it running as soon as possible and with our ageing 8” machine, the service and back up support we were receiving was not where we needed it to be.” He continues, “GA Groundcare Ltd have helped us out on more than one occasion, with loan GreenMech machines which was ultimately a big factor in our recent purchase.”

“Like everything, there’s been a big rise in the costs of arboricultural equipment, but the EVO came in at a reasonable price and the team were really impressed by its performance.” The largest machine in GreenMech’s EVO Series, the 205D boasts a generous in-feed hopper and unparalleled processing power for a machine in its category – tackling the biggest of tasks with both reliability and ease.

“The size, versatility and user-friendliness of this machine has seen it become our go-to for most jobs that come our way, it’s out on a daily basis.” Daniel emphasises, “The team have no complaints, and from an investment point of view, the fact we have dealer support 3-miles down the road and the no quibble 3-year parts and labour warranty gives us no doubt that the GreenMech was the right decision.”

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Midwinter Norfolk morning wins photo competition

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Midwinter Norfolk morning wins photo competition: A drone image showing the beautiful but harsh conditions faced by greenkeepers throughout winter has been revealed as the overall winner of the British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) Annual Photographic Competition 2023 sponsored by Syngenta.

Thetford first assistant greenkeeper and BIGGA member David Ball’s image was chosen by competition judges as the overall winner, with the selection committee also taking into account the results of a public vote, held across BIGGA’s social media accounts.

Midwinter Norfolk morning wins photo competition

Midwinter Norfolk morning wins photo competition

The image was taken by drone in January 2023 over Thetford’s 5th hole at around 7.30am. It shows sunlight breaking through the clouds as a layer of mist rolls into shot. The fairways and surrounding trees are crisp with a layer of frost.

David said: “We greenkeepers are privileged to experience these times of day that most people don’t get to see during their working hours. I was just lucky and in the right place at the right time on this beautiful morning. It is such an honour to win this award, so thank you to BIGGA and Syngenta.”

BIGGA’s annual photographic competition is a celebration of the wonderful golfing landscape and the role greenkeepers play in shaping it for golfers and the wider public to enjoy. Twelve images were selected in total for the annual BIGGA calendar, with winners also chosen in the separate categories of Greenkeeping, Landscape and Wildlife.

  • Landscape: Alistair Morrison, head greenkeeper, Durness Golf Club
  • Greenkeeping: Peter Meek, greenkeeper, Bath Golf Club
  • Wildlife: Elliot Walters, greenkeeper, Robin Hood Golf Club

You can view all 12 images selected to form the BIGGA desktop calendar on the BIGGA website.

A downloadable version of the calendar for use on your desktop background is available here.

BIGGA CEO Jim Croxton said: “BIGGA members work in some spectacular environments and each year the judges struggle to separate the entries, such is the quality of submissions. It’s always fascinating to see how the public votes when we post the finalists on our social media channels.

“David Ball’s entry stood out to us as it showcases the beautiful golf course at Thetford at a time that golfers will rarely see it – deep in the depths of winter – yet there are greenkeepers present, putting in the hard work that makes golf possible when warmer weather returns.

“Congratulations to all the winners and thank you once again to our valued sponsors at Syngenta.”

As overall competition winner, David has won a DJI Mini 2 SE Drone and a framed print of his image to be presented at BTME 2024, the greenkeeping community’s annual gathering in January.

Each of the category winners receive a £150 Love2Shop voucher.

BIGGA’s Annual Photographic Competition sponsored by Syngenta will return next year, so greenkeepers are encouraged to get snapping now to be in with a chance of winning more great prizes.

Registration for BTME 2024 and the associated Continue to Learn education programme is open. The event takes place from 21 to 25 January 2024 and you can find out more by heading to the BTME website, www.btme.org.uk

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