How to Stop Surface Compaction Killing Your Turf

/in , /by

How to Stop Surface Compaction Killing Your Turf: In drought conditions, compacted turf is your worst enemy. It seals the surface, blocking irrigation water from reaching roots, and accelerating turf stress. Then when it does rain, you get a surface full of puddles that eventually evaporate off with little benefit to the turf roots. 

Regular surface aeration is therefore crucial, and GreenTek has a wide range of specialised equipment to help with this.  Here we will look at the various options in detail.

How to Stop Surface Compaction Killing Your Turf

How to Stop Surface Compaction Killing Your Turf

Sarel Rolling

This is a long-proven technique, using spiked rollers to prick through the turf surface and enable entry of air, water, wetting agents, and nutrients into the root-zone.  GreenTek offers three Sarel-Roller options:

Triplex mounted

The Thatch-Away Supa-System units take a wide range of interchangeable turf maintenance attachments including Sarel-Roller Cassettes.  The three separate units give a working width of 1.5m, which combined with the greensmower’s speed and manoeuvrability makes this the most popular option for the majority of golf clubs.

Tractor mounted

Some golf clubs, and also other sports clubs, prefer to operate their Sarel-Roller on the back of a compact tractor or utility vehicle like the Pro Gator or Workman.  The popular 1.6m Tractor Mounted Sarel-Roller is ideal for greens and tees.

However, for larger areas such as golf fairways, and sports complexes with multiple pitches, the Multi-Sarel is ideal.  Its three hydraulically folding units give a massive 5.4m working width, enabling 18 fairways or multiple pitches to be sarel-rolled in just a matter of hours.

Alternatives for extreme conditions

If your golf greens have got so hard that not even sarel-rollers will penetrate, there are two further options from GreenTek’s Dynamics range to help solve your problem.

Dyna-Spiker

The Dyna-Spiker units fit to your greens triplex and have extra long slitting spikes which are powerfully driven into the turf.  The mower’s hydraulic or electric motors drive an eccentric camshaft, causing the spikes to vibrate and penetrate deep into the surface, breaking open compaction and allowing entry for vital water, wetting agents, and nutrients.

Dyna-Corer

The other member of the Dynamics range, the Dyna-Corer units, also fit to your greens triplex, and these have a punch action with interchangeable tines.  Most commonly used with hollow core tines for year-round micro-coring and thatch removal, in dry weather these can be swapped for solid needle tines to open the surface up without disturbance.

Survival

The key to surviving drought conditions is to take action quickly!  Don’t wait till your grass is dying before you act.  Opening up the surface is an immediate priority.  Then when heavy rain does inevitably come, your surfaces will drain freely without puddles, and the turf roots will get maximum benefit form the precious water.

Maintaining an open surface through the summer protects your turf health, and saves the need for extensive remedial and reseeding work later in the season.

GreenTek provides a full range of aeration equipment which can be viewed here.

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

‘The Subaru Cocoon’ Garden to be unveiled

/in , /by

‘The Subaru Cocoon’ Garden to be unveiled: Subaru UK & Ireland is set to unveil ‘The Subaru Cocoon’ garden at the prestigious RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival 2025, which runs from 1st- 6th July.

The installation, created by award-winning designers Mike McMahon and Jewlsy Mathews of Mike McMahon Studio, with the Subaru Cocoon Garden reflecting a sculptural, sensory refuge, inspired by the UK and Ireland’s vanishing temperate rainforests.

'The Subaru Cocoon' Garden to be unveiled

‘The Subaru Cocoon’ Garden to be unveiled

Once covering 20% of Britain, these lush, biodiverse ecosystems have now dwindled to less than 1%, making them one of the UK’s most threatened habitats. The Subaru Cocoon draws attention to this quiet crisis, reimagining the traditional walled garden as a sanctuary of both protection and ecological memory.

The display will sit in a prominent position within the historic grounds of Hampton Court Palace. The six-day festival is expected to welcome over 140,000 horticultural enthusiasts to the Palace gardens in west London for a celebration of garden designs, floral displays, and a wide range of other family-friendly activities.

Lorraine Bishton, Managing Director at Subaru UK & Ireland said: “The Subaru Cocoon’ garden at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival supports our commitments to safety and sustainability, whilst showcasing this beautiful, but threatened native habitat.

We know our customers also have a strong connection to nature and are engaged with initiatives that raise awareness of environmental responsibility.

We are delighted that following the show, the garden will provide a legacy supporting the inspirational charity Horatio’s Garden.”

The Cocoon garden reflects Subaru’s commitment to sustainability, care, and considered movement – values shared across both brand and garden installation. Just as Subaru supports responsible exploration through electric innovation, with the zero-tailpipe emission, all-wheel-drive Subaru Solterra, the garden offers a place of refuge that treads lightly on the land. Both prioritise harmony with the natural world. At their core, they both share a quiet belief in elegant, considered design to live better, prioritising awareness and beauty while simultaneously minimising unwanted impact.

The Subaru Cocoon Garden features a striking curved Jali wall – a perforated architectural screen that honours co-designer Jewlsy Mathews’ South Indian heritage – made from 4,500 innovative Kenoteq K-Briqs. These revolutionary building materials are manufactured from over 95% recycled construction waste and emit 95% less carbon than traditional fired bricks. The Jali wall doubles as a super-sized ‘insect hotel’, its porous structure supporting microhabitats across the site. By using sustainable bricks, the garden project has diverted 9.45 tonnes of construction waste from landfill and saved 1,972 kg of CO₂ emissions – equivalent to the amount of CO2 80 mature trees would absorb over a full year. This innovative approach to biodiversity follows Mike McMahon Studio’s RHS Chelsea Gold Medal-winning garden in 2024.

In lieu of a traditional walled garden door, a reflective water threshold —a symbolic cleansing—leads into a cool, immersive landscape of texture and shadow. Cantilevered fallen tree trunks hover dramatically above the wall, planted with native epiphytes in a bold interpretation of the forest’s “chop-and-drop” cycle, where decaying wood returns nutrients to the soil. The planting scheme features exclusively native species from the UK and Ireland, including thirteen species of fern, Silver Birch, and Scots Pine, structured in forest-like layers to celebrate the rich biodiversity of Britain’s temperate rainforests.

Mike McMahon of Mike McMahon Studio said: “The UK and Ireland’s temperate rainforest is a landscape that’s both ecologically rich and tragically overlooked – something we wanted to highlight with the Subaru Cocoon Garden. This type of installation has never been created at Hampton Court Palace before; it felt like the right moment to highlight the fragile epiphytes and micro-ecosystems that thrive in these endangered environments.”

“The garden is enveloped by a circular brick jali wall that frames the plants, plays with light and shadow, and invites you to look through and around, like you’re glimpsing through trees. Sustainability isn’t an add-on, it’s embedded in every decision we’ve made, from using zero concrete to ensuring all elements are reusable or relocatable once the show ends.”

As part of Subaru’s commitment to sustainability, the garden will be given a second life after the festival with plans to repurpose it to Horatio’s Garden charity, ensuring the installation continues to inspire and provide a place to nurture the wellbeing of people beyond the event.

For more information on the Subaru range, including the all-electric Solterra, visit www.subaru.co.uk

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Agrigem drives profitability with Orderwise

/in , /by

Agrigem drives profitability with Orderwise: Agrigem, one of the UK’s biggest distributors of plant protection products, has grown turnover by 80% and increased profit margins by 40% after adopting Forterro’s ERP and Warehouse Management Solution, Orderwise.

Agrigem offers thousands of products, including weed killer, moss killer, fertiliser, grass seed, biological controls, and equipment to homeowners, and those working in the horticulture, equine, forestry, sports and amenity sectors. Given the breadth and depth of its product range, Agrigem needed to streamline operations by managing these product lines, multiple payment methods and different customer requirements, which had previously been a significant challenge.

Agrigem drives profitability with Orderwise

Agrigem drives profitability with Orderwise

“We were in desperate need of greater efficiencies and to streamline our processes,” said Dave Best, Operations Director, Agrigem. “We had ambitious growth plans, and the set-up at the time was not going to support that growth. Not only is Orderwise inherently scalable but it has all the functionality we required to get on top of our operational organisation.”

Orderwise is an ERP solution deployed by wholesalers, distributors, retailers, manufacturers, and other businesses with complex requirements. It helps connect processes, optimise workflows, and revolutionise stock management.

It reduced the need for Agrigem to take on additional administrative resources as it grew by automating report generation, data imports, and other manual tasks. Furthermore, by having data presented automatically, Orderwise allowed them to make critical decisions faster and more efficiently, contributing to overall business growth.

“Investing in the right technology can set a business up for long-term success, and Orderwise undoubtedly falls into that category,” continued Dave Best, Agrigem. “It takes away unnecessary decision-making and reduces reliance on manual processes, both of which have been highly beneficial to our ongoing growth trajectory. It has also made it much easier for us to offer overnight delivery throughout the UK, which is critical for customers.”

Since implementing Orderwise, Agrigem has also benefited from complete visibility into its operational metrics. This allows the company to act quickly and effectively, such as adjusting pricing or changing product ranges, thereby avoiding delays that could impact the business negatively.

“When customers use our technology in this way, we feel like we have made a major contribution to their growth,” said Tom Price, Director, Forterro. “Orderwise is especially suited to retailers, manufacturers and wholesalers. It’s very much our core user base, and we are constantly and iteratively improving the product based on the ongoing feedback we get from customers. Agrigem is a leader in its field and precisely the type of business we love to work with.”

Read the full case study: https://orderwise.co.uk/en/resource/agrigem

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Birkdale introduces new DuraPost® sleeper post

/in , /by

Birkdale introduces new DuraPost® sleeper post: Birkdale has launched a new addition to its practical DuraPost® range – the Sleeper T-Post. The new post has been designed to offer an ideal solution for constructing small to medium sized retaining walls. Easy to install, the post features 9mm pre-drilled holes and offers a tough and durable fixing method. 

The T-shaped design provides an ideal method for fixing sleepers to the post. It also features 9mm pre-drilled holes, which are then compatible with SiteMate® Flat-Head, Wafer-Head or Hex-head timber screws.

Birkdale introduces new DuraPost® sleeper post

Birkdale introduces new DuraPost® sleeper post

Available in 1.2m, 1.5m, 2.0m and 2.4m lengths, the patented DuraPost® Sleeper T-Post is made from roll-formed galvanised structural steel with an extremely durable pre-galvanised coating to ensure the ultimate in corrosion resistance. The coating offers a 30 year life expectancy in C2 and C3 environments, as defined in ISO 12994-2:2017.

While the T- Post can be used to build retaining garden walls up to 1.2m in height with a foundation depth of 1.2m, Birkdale recommends that a structural engineer is consulted on projects over 0.6m in height.

For more information about products in Birkdale’s DuraPost® range, visit: www.birkdalesales.com/collections/durapost.

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

MM50 Helping Tees Stand the Test of Time

/in , /by

MM50 Helping Tees Stand the Test of Time: At Southerndown Golf Club in the Vale of Glamorgan, MM50 grass seed has become an essential product. With tees that endure relentless wear from players and exposure to some of the UK’s harshest growing conditions, Course Manager Andrew Mannion has come to rely on the hard-wearing ryegrass mix to keep surfaces strong, consistent, and fit for year-round play.

MM50 is one of the UK’s most popular grass seed mixtures – and with good reason. The blend of fine-leaved, high shoot density dwarf perennial ryegrasses is built for performance: it tolerates close mowing down to 4-5mm, recovers rapidly from wear, and maintains excellent year-round colour. For Andrew, it’s a perfect match for a course that refuses to follow convention.

MM50 Helping Tees Stand the Test of Time

MM50 Helping Tees Stand the Test of Time

 

“Southerndown’s unique,” says Andrew, who’s been at the club for over 30 years. “It’s like managing two courses in one. The front nine is very sandy and free-draining, almost links-like. The back nine is more loamy, heathland terrain. It means you’ve got to think differently about how you manage each area – and what you grow.”

The course sits around 70 metres above sea level on exposed, windswept land. Underfoot, a layer of acidic sand overlays limestone – an unusual soil profile shared by just a few sites in the UK. “That limestone layer can be two metres down, or just a couple of inches below the surface. It creates real challenges when it comes to aeration and water movement. We’ve got good irrigation, but water doesn’t hang around for long.”

Add in grazing rights – Southerndown is built on common land and home to up to 600 sheep, depending on the season – and it’s easy to see why traditional turf practices don’t always deliver.

For many years, Andrew stuck with a fescue-based programme passed down from his predecessor. But in areas of heavy traffic, especially on par-threes, the turf simply couldn’t keep up. “They’d turn to dust in the summer,” he says. “The recovery wasn’t quick enough. We weren’t getting the results we needed, and we were doing the same things every year expecting a different outcome.”

The spark for change came from an unlikely place: Wimbledon. “I remember watching coverage of Centre Court, and they mentioned these new dwarf ryegrass varieties. I thought, well, that’s just a big golf tee really. So, we trialled some MM50 on the worst par-threes – and the difference was incredible.”

The trial showed immediate improvements. “It gave us better grass coverage, but more than that, the recovery from divots was two or three times quicker than anything we’d seen with fescues. In some cases, you’d get shallow divots regenerating naturally without any intervention.”

That initial success quickly led to a full overseeding programme. “We moved to using MM50 across all the tees. It was an easy sell to the club – we could literally say, ‘Look at the par-threes. Why wouldn’t we want all the tees to look like that?’”

MM50 Helping Tees Stand the Test of Time

MM50 Helping Tees Stand the Test of Time

The benefits went beyond performance. “Golfers weren’t questioning it. The ryegrass is so fine-leaved that they didn’t even realise it was rye. They just saw a tight, clean surface that looked good and played well.”

MM50 has even made its way onto selected fairways – especially those that suffered during the prolonged heat and drought of 2018. “That year really opened our eyes,” Andrew recalls.

“We always thought fescue would bounce back after going dormant, but it didn’t. It just disappeared. We were dragging hoses out onto bare fairways, trying to save them. That’s when we looked at what we’d achieved with MM50 on the tees and thought – why not try it here too?”

“We’ve got a busy course. It’s used 365 days a year. Members expect value for money. You can’t keep relying on a surface that can’t keep up. MM50 gave us a way forward.”

For Andrew, MM50 hasn’t just improved playing surfaces – it’s changed his outlook. “I’m not one of those who hides behind tradition for tradition’s sake. We tried the fescue route. It worked up to a point, but it wasn’t giving us what we needed. MM50 has helped us manage trickier areas, maintain better grass cover, and deliver a better experience for the golfer.”

For further information, please contact MM Sports Seed on 01386 791102 or visit the company’s website www.mm-seeds.co.uk.

You can also follow the company on X: @MM_Seed.

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.