Otterbine brings new life

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Otterbine brings new life: Darlington Council has recently acquired two Sunburst aerating fountains from Otterbine for the lake in the town’s historic South Park, and is reaping the benefits of clean, healthy water and decorative spray patterns which are attracting visitors and bringing new life to the park.

The Green Flag Award Victorian park has something for everyone, from a multi-use games area to an aviary, café, bandstand, skate park, bowling green, green gym, childrens’ play area – and now, it also has two new Otterbine fountains, much to the public’s delight.

Otterbine brings new life

Otterbine brings new life

The purchase was made via Otterbine distributor Reesink Turfcare and the installation carried out by pond and lake specialist Clearwater Pond and Lake Management. Brian Graham, Head of Environmental Services at Darlington Council since 2006 who manages a team of over 200 people and had been hoping to make South Park even more inviting by getting rid of the algae in the lake and elevating its presentation.

“A colleague of mine knew someone who had an Otterbine fountain installed and recommended it to us,” Brian explains. “The process was absolutely fine. Reesink was great with the finance and arranged for the contractors to come in and do all the electrical work. The fountains were up and running within two days.”

Besides providing two new aesthetically pleasing elements to the lake and new focal point to the park, the 1HP Sunburst aerating fountains prevent algae from forming on the top and accumulating around the edges, creating a cleaner look and healthy water, getting rid of odours and aquatic weeds in the process. Not only that but they are energy-efficient and made up of corrosion-resistant and durable stainless steel.

After purchasing and having the fountains installed, Brian has noted a big difference: “The lake looks a lot better now, with crystal clear water and two lovely spray patterns. The biggest thing is the feedback from the visitors, which has been very positive. People like the sight and sound of the spray, and it’s brought new life to the park. It was already popular by itself but now it has an improved look that has attracted the public even more.”

One of Otterbine’s most popular fountains, the Sunburst provides superior aeration while displaying a traditional yet striking pattern. Designed to give the best of both worlds by offering function and beauty, it can operate in as little as 75cm of water and can move over three times as much water than decorative patterns (pumping up to 237 cubic metres per hour), thanks to its open-throat propeller design.

Boasting proven high oxygen transfer rates and providing an attractive display with the capability to manage severe aquatic environments, the Sunburst is also backed by a five-year warranty for added peace of mind and can have Fountain Glo™ LED lighting fitted in for an extra decorative element as the sun goes down.

To find out more about the Otterbine range of aerators and fountains, contact Reesink on 01480 226800, email info@reesinkturfcare.co.uk or visit reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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Protecting Liverpool’s Green Spaces for Good

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Protecting Liverpool’s Green Spaces for Good: Green Space charity Fields in Trust is inviting Liverpool residents to get involved to help them protect all the parks and green spaces across the city.

Liverpool City Council have committed to protect 100 parks, totalling over 1,000 hectares, which can never be built on or lost to development. Once completed, Liverpool will be the first city in the UK where every resident has a legally protected green space within a ten-minute walk of home.

Protecting Liverpool’s Green Spaces for Good

Protecting Liverpool’s Green Spaces for Good

The Council’s commitment ensures the positive benefits of green spaces will always be available for the city’s residents. But this is a joint effort, the Liverpool Park Friends Forum were instrumental in bringing about green space protection, working with Liverpool city council and Fields in Trust. Now Fields in Trust are inviting local businesses and the wider community to support the programme.

Over the last two years we have all relied on our local green spaces more than ever; parks are a vital part of the local environment helping us rebalance and recover. Alongside their value for health and wellbeing, urban parks increasingly have a role to play in environmental improvements including air quality and biodiversity.

Fields in Trust Chief Executive Helen Griffiths said: “We have seen a major shift in the way people talk about, visit and value their local parks. Our parks have provided a lifeline throughout lockdown and now, coming out of the pandemic, we can all play our part to make sure local green spaces will remain a healthy part of the local environment contributing to our wellbeing, our community connections and mitigating the impact of climate change. We are working with the city council to ensure all Liverpool parks will be protected and available for the whole community, for future generations. As a charity we need support from the communities and businesses in Liverpool to help turn this vision into a reality.”

Councillor Dan Barrington, Liverpool City Council Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment said: “We are delighted to work with Fields in Trust to protect the city’s parks and green spaces. This is a practical example of Liverpool City Council’s strategic Triple Lock: People, Planet, Equality. I encourage local community organisations and businesses to step-up and get involved with Fields in Trust, supporting them to protect more green spaces for good”

A series of posters will be going up around Liverpool parks in the forthcoming weeks inviting park users to sign-up for regular updates on the progress of the programme and help bring about a fundamental change by future-proofing Liverpool’s much-loved parks – securing green spaces for good. Find out more at the Fields in Trust website: www.fieldsintrust.org/liverpool

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BIGGA launches ‘Plant a Tree for BTME’

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BIGGA launches ‘Plant a Tree for BTME’: The British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) has launched a new scheme that will see exhibitors at its annual trade show and education conference encouraged to ‘Plant a Tree for BTME’.

The 2022 edition of the BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition (BTME) was held from 22 to 24 March at the Harrogate Convention Centre, but is anticipated to return to its regular January date in 2023. Exhibitors who sign up to attend the 2023 event will be given the option of purchasing a tree, to be planted at a nominated golf course.

BIGGA launches ‘Plant a Tree for BTME’

BIGGA launches ‘Plant a Tree for BTME’

It is hoped that over the years sufficient trees will be planted to create a network of ‘BTME community woodlands’ around the UK, with Harrogate Golf Club the first club to participate in the scheme.

With individual trees capturing up to 1 tonne of carbon dioxide from our air over its lifetime, the scheme will raise awareness of the carbon footprint generated by major events such as BTME and be a flagship initiative as BIGGA seeks to improve its sustainable practices, as is echoed at forward-thinking golf facilities everywhere.

BIGGA Membership Services Manager for Sustainability James Hutchinson said: “The idea of planting trees as a means of offsetting carbon generated by people travelling to attend BTME was first proposed by a BIGGA member a couple of months ago and it is something that struck me as making a lot of sense. Those who know me know that I’m a dendrophile – I love trees – and as we explored the possibility further we uncovered schemes such as the National Trust’s pledge to plant 20 million trees by 2030, so it just made a lot of sense to get involved.

“It is always important to take great care when selecting what trees to plant on a golf course as not all species are appropriate or will generate the desired result, but by working with courses that are eager to create areas of woodland for the wider community, we believe this scheme will help to raise awareness of the good work that golf courses are doing to protect the natural environment.”

Harrogate Golf Club’s course manager, Ken Ward, said: “An old employer of mine once told me, ‘we’re just custodians of this land’. That rang true with me. We’re not here for that long but we want to leave it in a better place than we found it. This is an opportunity to get our members and two local primary schools involved with a project on the golf course, which is a fantastic thing.”

Plant a Tree for BTME is just one of a number of initiatives that BIGGA has undertaken to reduce the carbon footprint of BTME. BTME returns from 24 to 26 January 2023 at the Harrogate Convention Centre. The event is free to attend and for more information visit www.btme.org.uk

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220TMP proves to be the ‘master’

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220TMP proves to be the ‘master’: When tree surgeon Paul Cutler was in the market for a new woodchipper to handle large scale domestic tree-works, there was only one machine that fitted the bill – a Chipmaster 220TMP from GreenMech.

Having been impressed with the build quality of the GreenMech machines at a local dealer open day, Paul took delivery of his machine in January 2022, and it’s already blown him away with its high output capabilities taking large conifers and other bulky material in its stride.

220TMP proves to be the ‘master'

220TMP proves to be the ‘master’

Paul has used various makes and models of woodchipper over his 35-year career, with a 4” and 6” road-tow machine currently on his fleet, sitting alongside a second-hand 6” PTO unit that began costing Paul more than it was earning! “I had recently purchased some other equipment from our local machinery dealer Thurlow Nunn Standen, when Andy Rayner mentioned they were becoming GreenMech dealers and invited me along to an open day” Paul explains.

Impressed with the build quality of the machines on show, he explored further, before settling on the Chipmaster 220TMP. “The great thing about this chipper is that it has a huge 9” capacity which is fantastic for productivity, but it only requires a 60hp tractor. It also has a really wide infeed chute which means we can put in large, twisted brash and branches without needing to spend time trimming them down or inadvertently triggering the safety bar.”

“Not only is it giving us high output, the whole machine is so simple to use” he continues. The Chipmaster 220TMP is the ultimate ‘maximum output, minimum investment’ machine. It fits the three-point linkage on tractors between 60 and 80hp, with the feed rollers powered by the tractor’s hydraulic system. The Chipmaster has been designed to deliver the perfect combination of tremendous strength and robust performance – promising the free-flow and high throughput of bulky materials.

“I’ve been using it this week on a big domestic job, and it’s been taking 20-foot long and 6” diameter conifers, with no trouble at all.” Paul concludes, “The difference between the Chipmaster and our old machine and 6” unit is huge! With the performance and significant time savings it’s already bringing to jobs, it really is a brilliant investment.”

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The healthier alternative for Patterson’s

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The healthier alternative for Patterson’s: After a decade of working with 2-stroke engines, Adam Patterson, from Patterson’s Gardening Services in Northern Ireland, thought it was time to switch to battery-powered equipment.

Covering all kinds of garden maintenance, Patterson’s Gardening Mowers, based in Lisburn continues to go from strength to strength. Renowned for its high quality of work and excellent customer service, the company never rests on its laurels.

The healthier alternative for Patterson’s

The healthier alternative for Patterson’s

Adam is proud of the company’s vast customer base, and he revealed that in the whole seven years the business has been running, he has never had a conversation starter such as his new Pellenc equipment.

“I would say the Pellenc equipment has been the biggest talking point ever,” he said. “It is a huge conversation starter with customers, and they’ll often stop me to comment on how quiet it is. It is so quiet, that sometimes I don’t even need to turn it off; or if I do, I simply take my finger off the trigger – it’s that easy.”

Adam and his customers aren’t the only ones to be bowled over by the innovative range of Pellenc battery-powered equipment. A forerunner when it comes to lithium-ion technology, Pellenc has established itself as the number one choice in the ‘zero emission’ professional power tools market for the maintenance of urban and green-spaces.

Light, odourless, noise-free, with no starting problems and enough power to enable professional users to work for a full day on a single charge, it’s no wonder more and more professional users are turning to Pellenc. It is an attractive alternative to those who have, for several years, been relying on fuel-based machinery.

Not only will users see a huge amount of savings by eliminating the necessity of purchasing fuel but by using the Pellenc equipment, they will be contributing to protecting the environment by reducing the consumption of fossil fuels and noise pollution.

With three members of staff to think about, Adam’s concerns about the fumes from 2-stroke engines weren’t just limited to himself.

“The main reason for looking at battery alternatives was because of the health implications,” he said. “This was most apparent when using a hedge trimmer because myself and my staff use these tools a lot and quite often, we would be surrounded by the fumes for hours at a time. I also found myself coughing a lot at night-time. It was absolutely the right time to make the switch and I thought the hedge trimmers would be a good place to start.”

As a result, Adam arranged a demonstration with his local dealer RD Mechanical and purchased the Helion Compact 2 which is the lightest battery-powered hedge trimmer on the market. It is an efficient tool that meets the needs of professionals in terms of power and trimming quality. In fact, the Helion allows the user to work comfortably when trimming hedges, ornamental trees and can also be used for pruning.

Furthermore, a swivel head is available on the pole models, and can be adjusted by +90°/-45° which means you can work in all trimming positions. The Swivel handle is also adjustable by +/- 90° for vertical work without bending the handle.

“It’s a fantastic bit of kit and I comfortably get a full day’s work out of it,” he said. “I have the battery backpack too, and you hardly notice it is there.

“I looked at a couple of other brands of battery-powered powered products, but Pellenc just stood out to me, along with the great back-up service I get from RD Mechanical. I think one of the biggest selling points is that they are waterproof and that gave me extra confidence. Combine that with the 4-year warranty on the tools and a 3-year warranty on the battery, and you simply can’t go wrong with Pellenc.”

Pellenc is distributed exclusively in the UK by Etesia UK.

For further information, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680120 or visit www.pellencuk.com

You can also follow Pellenc on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @PellencUK for much more news, reviews and insightful views.

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