The Agrovista Amenity Academy

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The Agrovista Amenity Academy: The Agrovista Amenity Academy, which is free to sign-up to, is an online learning resource providing in-depth Knowledge courses on subjects such as turf disease, chemicals, product application, turf pests, managing moss, frost, weeds, and thatch as well as courses for all products sold by Agrovista Amenity. 

The Product courses have been designed so that the individual can fully understand and get maximum benefits from the products they purchase. With knowledge and product courses being added on a regular basis, Academy students are guaranteed to have a wide variety to choose from.

The Agrovista Amenity Academy

The Agrovista Amenity Academy

The Academy has already shown significant growth with over 11,000 CPD points awarded so far. Furthermore, many greenkeepers and course managers are benefitting from a CPD partnership with BIGGA, which enables BIGGA’s members to embark on any course they choose without having to go through an employer. BIGGA allocates up to 4 points for all successfully completed courses and can vary depending on content and length.

The Academy website also boasts a highly sophisticated weather system which helps people make better decisions for the week ahead. Understanding the effects of weather when managing sports turf surfaces is a key skill required by all turf managers and CPD points are awarded for studying the weather report and passing a short test.

“It has grown bigger than we ever expected it to,” said Karl Parry, the founder of the education platform. “The amount of CPD points we have awarded really is quite phenomenal.

“I think that the product and knowledge portfolios that we can build is endless. Agrovista has an incredible number of resources combined with highly knowledgeable and experienced professionals. Both sections will continue to expand and will push the amenity standard forward.”

As the Agrovista Academy continues to grow, so too does the number of positive reviews.

“I spent some time to refresh the mind on the subject of thatch in sports turf. Very useful knowledge.” – Michael Williams, Whitgift School.

“Thank you so much for the Agrovista Academy. I have found it to be a great saviour during lockdown times to keep me occupied whilst learning and gaining CPD credits at the same time.” – John Milne, Dufftown Golf Club.

“I am finding them very informative. Having recently got back into the industry they are great for extra education.” – Andy Burrell, Garmouth and Kingston Golf Club.

“Please keep the Academy running – it is a great learning tool.” – Andrew Hatcher, Coed-Y-Mwstwr Golf Club.

You can visit the new Amenity academy here: www.amenityacademy.co.uk

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John Deere Suspends shipments to Russia

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John Deere Suspends shipments to Russia: John Deere is deeply saddened by the significant escalation of events in Ukraine. The safety, welfare, and well-being of our employees in the region remain our top priority, and we continue to support and maintain close communication with our affected teams, providing necessary resources when possible.

Our thoughts are with our employees, their families as well as our dealers, customers and all those impacted by this crisis.

John Deere Suspends shipments to Russia

John Deere Suspends shipments to Russia

Two weeks ago, we suspended shipments of machines to Russia and then subsequently, Belarus. We continue to monitor the situation closely while we fully abide by U.S. and international sanctions. The John Deere Foundation has additionally been working directly with a number of organisations, including multiple UN agencies, to mobilise resources to support Ukrainians impacted by the crisis. Our mission is, and always has been, to help our customers feed the world.

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Sustainable Goodwood

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Sustainable Goodwood: From solar panels and biomass boilers to rewilding and biodiversity projects, there are a number of projects underway at Goodwood in West Sussex to ensure it achieves its eventual goal of being a carbon neutral estate. Recently that involves a significant Toro machinery fleet order including five electric riding greensmowers and eight electric utility vehicles.

Gary Beves, general manager, tells us about his involvement in choosing Toro and distributor Reesink Turfcare for a five-year fleet deal for the second time: “We’re focused on protecting the social and ecological value of the estate and every decision made is in accordance with our six key priorities, one of which is reducing our carbon footprint.

Sustainable Goodwood

Sustainable Goodwood

“Toro is the only manufacturer to be able to offer a fully electric riding greensmower in the shape of the Greensmaster eTriFlex 3370 and led the way with the electric technology seen in the Workman GTXe utility vehicle too. These revolutionary machines form the backbone of the order and will be powered by energy produced on site in the estate’s new biomass boiler which will create energy by burning waste strawbales and chestnut stakes following the Festival of Speed along with felled wood from our forestry plan to provide the electricity to charge the electric vehicles.

“There was never any question that the all-electric technology from Toro fit in with our ethos, it sealed the deal in terms of delivering what we needed for the two golf courses, estate gardens and parkland. But as I liaised with the head greenkeepers for both the Downs and Park courses and the Board, one thing that was abundantly clear was how keen everyone was to maintain the relationship with Toro and Reesink too, as it’s been so positive over the years.”

With the technology box firmly ticked, Simon Berry, head greenkeeper of the Park course, explains what it’s like to use the mowers: “The eTriFlex is a heavenly bit of kit to use. The Park course is very busy and is located next to The Goodwood Hotel. To be able to do our job from as early as 5am in the summer and throughout the day without disturbing anyone is priceless. Another huge factor for me is that these electric machines are lighter than their diesel counterparts. And on a course like the Park course which gets very wet that’s a big consideration.”

But it’s not just their green credentials that cinched the deal for Toro, as Rob Dyer, head greenkeeper of the Downs course, explains they are extremely productive too: “Productivity isn’t affected by being electric. We can cut 36 holes on the Park course with the eTriFlex on a single charge and 27 holes on the Downs course which is very hilly and a ten-minute drive from the shed.”

Goodwood also chose four Reelmaster 5010-H hybrid mowers for the fairways, the Groundsmaster 4700 was chosen for its lighter touch on the slopes, the Groundsmaster 3500-D with SideWinder decks which are, according to Rob “so robust they’re practically bomb-proof yet provide the finest finish we need around the bunkers and tees”, as well as the ProCore 648 aerator and MultiPro sprayer among many in the extensive fleet to take care of the 12,000-acre estate.

All machines are monitored by Toro’s fleet management programme MyTurf for maintenance and servicing and Rob cites the support from Reesink but especially Jon Cole as “exceptional”.

Gary finishes by saying: “We have a timescale to transition to 100 percent renewable energy providers and this commitment to Toro is another step in the right direction to achieving that.”

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New Pro Flora and Colour Boost Catalogues

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New Pro Flora and Colour Boost Catalogues: In order to meet with the increasing demand for conservation mixtures, DLF Seeds have announced expansions to the Pro Flora wild flower and Colour Boost amenity flower collections, in two brand new mixture guides for 2022.

Having recently increased their in-house production for wild flowering species, a number of new mixtures have been introduced – designed to bring biodiversity and visual impact to even more amenity and agricultural spaces.

New Pro Flora and Colour Boost Catalogues

New Pro Flora and Colour Boost Catalogues

Wild flowers have long played a vital role in renovation and landscaping projects, improving visual diversity and providing support and conservation for wildlife and pollinating species. With that in mind, DLF have introduced Pro Flora 15 – Pollinator. Pro Flora 15 contain a mixture of native origin wild flowers and fine-leaved grasses, which will thrive in a range of soil types, and produce a prolonged flowering period – perfect for bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects.

Also new for 2022 is Pro Flora 16 – Coastal. With many of our coastal areas under threat from human activity and the sea, Pro Flora 16 provides land managers with a mixture for restoring some of these spaces and/or regenerating areas with poor quality land. Containing 20% wild flowers such as Kidney Vetch and Viper’s Bugloss, this new mixture can provide valuable habitat for coastal-dwelling insects and invertebrate species.

A number of mixtures have also been launched in the Colour Boost collection, designed for maximum floral impact. Skyscraper contains classics such as Cosmos and Zinnia and is created for areas where a taller growing mixture is required to deliver the desired level of visual impact. As with many of the Pro Flora mixtures, pollinators are at the forefront of species selection for a number of Colour Boost mixtures, with the new Honey Bee & Butterfly mix selecting flowers that will provide both a spectacular display and a valuable nectar source for bees and other pollinating insects. Completing the expanded range is Classical, a mix of blue and white species, ideal for more formal settings.

Full details of the Pro Flora and Colour Boost ranges can be found in the new brochures, available on request, or by visiting www.dlf.co.uk/wildflowers

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Walking on air in Greenwich Park

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Walking on air in Greenwich Park: The oldest enclosed Royal Park, Greenwich covers 74 hectares on top of a hill where visitors enjoy sweeping views across the River Thames to St Paul’s Catherdral and beyond.

There has been a settlement on the site since Roman times, and Greenwich has always had a strong association with royalty. Historic tree areas date from 1660 when Charles II was king and eleven original trees from the period can be found in the park. In 2019, the park had over five million visitors and with its view and attractions – there’s even a Saxon burial mound – it is no wonder when the pandemic struck there was a massive increase in visitors in the first year of lockdown.

Walking on air in Greenwich Park

Walking on air in Greenwich Park

“It was like bank holiday every day,” says Adam Stoter, Greenwich Park’s Technical Officer. “Greenwich Park offered an open-air space when there were few places people could go. The trouble was, the added footfall compounded the growing problem of compaction in and around the tree areas.”

The Royal Parks’ flagship project ‘Greenwich Park Revealed’ had already begun to restore the 590-year-old park to protect and share its heritage. They aim to go above and beyond in tree care and management and it was a natural progression to bring in the specialist services of Terrain Aeration’s Tree Division. The company has been treating tree areas in Royal Parks for many years and, in the case of Greenwich this year, applied their technology across 15,000 square metres. Where there is heavy compaction it is essential to break up the soil at a depth greater than the tree roots, other than the main tap roots which go straight down, to allow excess water to drain away and help stop anaerobic conditions and rotting of the root system.

The Terrain Aeration Terralift machine sends a probe to a depth of one metre where compressed air is released to a maximum of 20Bar (280psi). This blast of air fractures the soil and creates fissures which interlink as the Terralift repeats the process on a grid system of two-metre spacings. As the probe withdraws at the end of the air blast, dried seaweed is injected which sticks to the fissure walls, expanding and contracting with moisture content in the soil to keep the area ’breathing’. In most cases, the area treated will be one-metre inside and one-metre outside the canopy drip line to reach beyond the growing roots, increasing the percentage of oxygen intake and allow maximum drainage. In all, Terrain Aeration treated around 15,000 square metres to help ensure the future of the historic tree areas where visitors will literally walk on air.

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