New course in the best possible hands

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New course in the best possible hands: Ingestre Park Golf Club has relied heavily upon distributor Reesink Hydro-Scapes’s range of products as it created 12 new and upgraded six existing holes at its course in Staffordshire, with Toro providing the irrigation and Otterbine the lake aerating fountains for the project.

440 Toro Flex sprinklers were used for the greens, approaches and fairways and 159 T5 sprinklers on the tees, all of which are controlled by the Toro Lynx central control system with Lynx Smart modules. Five Otterbine Concept 3 lake aerating fountains keep the water of three lakes clean and clear and make a striking attraction.

New course in the best possible hands

New course in the best possible hands

International Design Group and MJ Abbott Ltd designed the course with Phil Helmn, as the golf course advisor, responsible for ensuring the project was carried out meeting the time frame of the planners. Here Phil explains the process: “When Ingestre Park Golf Club learned the proposed path of a new high-speed train was going to go through the course eight years ago, it took this as an opportunity to thrive. Excellent choices were made in selecting the right partners and the right tender plans.

“The bid included Toro irrigation in a one, not three, row formation with a couple of landing zones. The Lynx central control system really came into its own in the growing in phase. The ground must always be kept damp with water being applied every two hours for two minutes.

“If there were weather changes Lynx alerted us and application tweaks could be made – even from a sunlounger in Cyprus at one point! The level of detail and intuitive control Lynx provides is what’s needed when it comes to the application of water especially at this delicate stage and for safeguarding this commodity.”

Speaking of safeguarding water, Otterbine plays a role in this too, says Phil: “We were conscious of being set up to be as self-reliant as possible and know that everything has been done to harvest water. The site is very wet, and we needed a robust drainage system. Now we have a system that collects water into three lakes, all of which are interconnected, with Concept 3 aeration units installed from Otterbine to keep the water good for irrigating. We’ve also got a borehole to top up when needed and all this allows us to stay off the main water supply as much as possible.”

Now that the growing phase is over, Phil and the team continue to rely on the remote easy access accuracy of Toro’s Lynx, as Phil explains: “We irrigate at night or early in the morning and it’s so easy to control this should weather circumstances change from the time of pre-set. When you consider the warmer temperatures of the last few years and the prediction this will continue, to know our new course is in the best possible hands with the technology of Toro and Otterbine is particularly reassuring.”

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TriCure Ad™ Granular eases greens

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TriCure Ad™ Granular eases greens: Nestled between the Yorkshire Dales and Lakeland Fells, Casterton Golf Club in South Cumbria has undergone radical expansion in recent years under the guidance of Owner and Head Greenkeeper Peter Makinson.

The underlying limestone rock provides excellent drainage, ensuring the course is playable year-round but poses a challenge to Peter and his team in their attempts to retain moisture and nutrients in the profile. That’s where his feeding programme from Origin Amenity Solutions (OAS) comes in – with particular successes seen last year in switching from spot treatments to broader applications of TriCure Ad™ Granular.

TriCure Ad™ Granular eases greens

TriCure Ad™ Granular eases greens

Peter has used products from the OAS portfolio, specifically the Headland brand, for the last 15 years. Under the guidance of OAS Sales Manager Alex Hawkes, this has progressed to a full year-round programme – put into practice for the last four years. “We have traditionally followed a primarily liquid regime” Peter explains, “applied monthly in and around the busy course and available weather windows, and working with the labour resources available.”

“The TriCure Ad™ Granular product is easy to apply and for the last few seasons, we have been using it to target particularly problematic areas around the course with good results.” However, with the prolonged period of hot and dry weather experienced last year, Peter extended his use to wider applications – providing some relief to their non-irrigated greens. “We started with an application at a rate of 24g/m2 at the beginning of the season with the plan to reapply every three months. However, we closely monitored the weather and could react by getting the spreader out, covering two to three greens per night, and watering it in using taps and hoses.”

TriCure Ad™ Granular product offers an effective solution in situations where spraying is not feasible. It utilises DG-Lite, dispersible granular technology as a carrier to quickly release the chemistry with no residue left after normal irrigation. It also does not contain any of the ingredients commonly associated with phytotoxicity or scorch meaning it can be safely applied in the morning and watered-in to activate the product in the evening without risk to the turf.

“It’s easy to spread and breaks down well, with no pickup on the mowers afterwards” Peter adds. “The beauty of being able to apply it as and when we needed it most meant we got through the challenging summer retaining adequate coverage and recovering quickly when the rain returned.” Having demonstrated its effectiveness, Peter now plans to extend applications of TriCure Ad™ to the tees for the upcoming season. “As we look for ways to manage the challenges that mother nature throws at us, knowing how this product works on our ground and the results we get with the resources we have available, it’s the next logical step.”

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Duncan Ross completes project

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Duncan Ross completes project: Specialist sports turf contractor Duncan Ross has completed a multiple-pitch construction and drainage project as part of the £18.5 million Skirting Beck and Whangs Beck Flood Risk Management Scheme in Egremont on behalf of the Environment Agency who have completed this project’.

Formally opened on the 9th December 2022 by MP for Copeland, Trudy Harrison, the Environment Agency project scheme reduces the flood risk to properties in the area while improving sports surfaces and facilities for the local community.

Duncan Ross completes project

Duncan Ross completes project

Paul Robertshaw, Project Executive at the Environment Agency said:

“We are delighted that the £18.5 million flood scheme is now complete, reducing the flood risk to 220 properties, ahead of winter this year.

“The scheme not only better protects people and properties in the area from flooding but has created a better place for the community by providing, improved community amenities and an enhanced environment for wildlife to thrive.

“The help and cooperation of local residents, West Lakes Academy, the Falcon Club, schools and nurseries has helped this scheme and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their support over the years.” 

VolkerStevin Ltd and the Environment Agency created a flood storage reservoir to intercept and attenuate flood water from Skirting Beck before it reached Egremont Town, causing flooding in periods of heavy rain.

The area chosen to create the flood storage reservoir and surface water control system was on a 2.7-hectare disused hard porous pitch and tennis courts attached to West Lakes Academy. During design works, Sport England stipulated that the site had to remain suitable for sports.

The flood storage reservoir is designed to retain flood water by the construction of a retaining wall around the outside of the site, with the beck then being choked at the outlet end and open at the inlet end.

The beck then flows into the flood storage reservoir/sports pitch area and is retained until other flood levels reduce.

Once the flood storage reservoir has drained down, it needs to again be suitable for sport. For this reason, Duncan Ross Ltd was employed under the design of the drainage system by professional design consultants PSD Ltd.

The upper 150mm thick surface was removed from the hard porous area and tarmac tennis courts and replaced by imported topsoil. A GPS grade control bulldozer graded the topsoil to create the exact gradients of the existing area so as not to decrease or increase the holding capacity of the flood storage reservoir.

A new drainage system was installed by our GPS guided 15/15 Mastenbroek trencher. The Environment Agency monitored all works to prevent any contamination to Skirting Beck.

The area was then sand ameliorated with a 50mm layer thickness of medium fine sand and seeded. Once the sward had established, the area had slit drains installed at 1m centres and all spoil was removed from site, the area was then top-dressed at 180 tonnes/hectare vertidrained and fertilised.

Some of the difficulties encountered were the sourcing of a suitable 6000 tonne topsoil to match as near as possible local soil, working within such a narrow access site, sourcing materials to Egremont, the weather and working on site during Covid and all that entailed.

One of the many positives was working with VolkerStevin staff on this project, who provided excellent leadership and whose attention to all health and safety matters was exemplary.

The works will be completed in May 2023.

On the project, MP Trudy Harrison said: “This is a milestone day for the Egremont community. This area has suffered the devastating impact of repeated flooding for many years, and this significant investment will now make a real difference to families and businesses locally.

“I’d like to thank the Environment Agency and all the partners for working together for the benefit of the community.”

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Foamstream solves three-fold weed-control problem

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Foamstream solves three-fold weed-control problem: Across the pond, 4B Landscape & Construction Inc are discovering the many benefits of Foamstream, having switched to the non-herbicidal weed-control solution in early 2022.

Previously using Glyphosate as their primary chemical control, CEO Jamie Berg and COO Gary Berg Jr explain how, since purchasing their L12 unit from Weedingtech, they’re piquing the interest of many new commercial customers with the alternative that saves labor hours and tackles weeds in a way that’s safer for operator and the planet.

Foamstream solves three-fold weed-control problem

Foamstream solves three-fold weed-control problem

Established in 2013, 4B Landscape & Construction Inc are a full-scale landscape design, installation and maintenance company servicing both residential and commercial clients in the Greater Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley areas. “When it came to weed control, our initial approach of glyphosate and supplementary hand weeding wasn’t proving effective for three reasons. Firstly, and mainly, is the overall adverse health concerns to humans and the environment. Next, we found weed crops were becoming glyphosate tolerant leading to an increase in treatments. Finally, hand weeding was just simply inefficient and labor intensive, and didn’t give us lasting results” explains Gary.

When exploring alternatives, Gary came across Foamstream on social media and later found that one of their local vendors was an approved distributor. Foamstream kills unwanted vegetation, including weeds, moss and algae, using the precise application of hot water insulated by a specially formulated biodegradable and organic foam. It is delivered by Weedingtech’s range of patented machinery range – an L12 unit purchased by Gary is now coming to the end of its first year of service.

“Not only is Foamstream a healthy herbicide-free option for people and the environment, it gives us instant knockdown results. Compared to hand-weeding, it equates to a 25% labor saving on each site which is in the region of 90 hours saved over the span of the season. Because it treats the spores and seeds as well as the weed, Foamstream has decreased our annual treatments from seven to three or four.” He continues, “It has also eliminated costly overspray or leaching repairs and expanded our potential for treatment throughout the year instead of being limited by suitable weather windows.”

“Additionally, the community perception of the system being herbicide-free helps us stand-out among the competition. Our customers appreciate the multiple benefits it has to their friends, family, pets and the environment and this has undoubtably seen us win more business in both the domestic and commercial markets.”

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Intensive Robot Training for STIGA dealerships

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Intensive Robot Training for STIGA dealerships: STIGA dealers have been treated to extensive training and offered integral insights on the STIGA autonomous robot mowers.

The 210 staff from 130 UK dealerships were given a detailed introduction to the installation and working principle of the new autonomous robot range. The 21 dates throughout January February and March, reached full capacity due to the anticipation and excitement felt about these new machines from our mowing dealer colleagues. The training consisted of introductory presentations and practical outdoor training sessions providing our partners with all the information to become expert robot dealers.

Intensive Robot Training for STIGA dealerships

Intensive Robot Training for STIGA dealerships

The venues chosen were across the country and included Coventry, Edinburgh, Plymouth and Chepstow, and once each was session was completed, dealers obtained a certificate after taking a test.

In preparation for the STIGA robot launch this month, dealers were trained in all aspects of these innovative machines, including in the points below:

Cable-free

STIGA autonomous robot lawn mowers navigate without needing a wire. The installation is fully virtual and done via the STIGA.GO App. The new robot mowers work collecting information from satellites signals, both GPS and all other GNSS systems, to know their positions and navigate around the garden.

Intelligent mowing plan

STIGA AGS technology allows this robot to plan mowing sessions according to satellite signal availability, to mow with precision and accuracy. Knowing the satellites’ positioning in advance, the autonomous robot mower plans ahead each mowing session in each area. All zones in the lawn are mown regularly and accurately, leaving no zone uncut and avoiding over-mowing by passing several times in the same area. The result is an even, beautiful lawn.

Better battery technology

Well-positioned to grant a perfect balance, the ePower integrated battery capacity allows the autonomous robot to care for the lawn in as little as 2 mowing cycles a day. Even after 4 years of use the battery still operates at over 80% of its capacity.

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