GKB bring the Sandspreader 400 to Coventry

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GKB bring the Sandspreader 400 to Coventry: GKB Machines are known for their robust and reliable groundskeeping machines, and at the heart of their wide range of products fits the GKB Sandspreaders.

Thought of as the premier choice in the top dresser market, the SP series distributes different materials evenly over a field with precision and efficiency, and are available in a variety of sizes to suit the needs of sports grounds and courses.

GKB bring the Sandspreader 400 to Coventry

GKB bring the Sandspreader 400 to Coventry

The latest delivery saw the arrival of the SP400 – the largest Top Dresser in the GKB arsenal – to Lakeside Ground Maintenance in Coventry. Director of the Coventry firm, Gareth Fowler-Simons commented: “I was after a bigger spreader that was also suitable to travel on the road between sites. I’ve only heard good things about GKB, and with up to 95 per cent of the work we do being top dressing and renovations related, this really was the obvious choice for us.”

Being only the second SP400 to reach the UK – the first arrived in Scotland some months ago – it has naturally drawn a lot of attention among ground staff already. As effective sanding is crucial for the long-term preservation of sports fields, GKB expect these to be the first of many SP400s delivered to UK grounds and courses.

Tom Shinkins, GKB Machines UK Operations Director admitted: “The Sandspreader offers more than a traditional top dresser, giving workers the ability to control how much material gets spread and where, evenly with no fuss. We are delighted have an SP400 now in operation in England, and are sure that Lakeside Ground Maintenance will have many fantastic years using it.”

GKB bring the Sandspreader 400 to Coventry

GKB bring the Sandspreader 400 to Coventry

GKB Sandspreader main features:

  • Sturdy wheelbase for perfect stability and weight dispersion
  • Adjustable conveyor belt speed
  • Double hydraulically driven, precisely adjustable spreading discs
  • Road legal
  • Uniquely shaped bunker for good visibility and efficient sand discharge

The SP400 is available to order from your local GKB Machines dealer, find them online local via the GKB website now.

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Youth football pitches wrecked

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Youth football pitches wrecked: Five pitches maintained by Aspull Juniors FC were churned up and left unusable after reports on social media that there was a quad bike riding on the grass last week.

Read the full article from Wigan Today here

https://turfmatters.co.uk/gma-supports-launch-of-new-sports-turf-apprenticeship/

https://turfmatters.co.uk/gma-supports-launch-of-new-sports-turf-apprenticeship/

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PNE’s pitches boosted by Mansfield Sand

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PNE’s pitches boosted by Mansfield Sand: Pete Ashworth, Head Groundsman at Preston North End FC, has revealed how products from Mansfield Sand play a role in achieving consistently good playing surfaces.

Pete, a graduate of the highly regarded Myerscough College, originally began his career at Blackburn Rovers FC before moving to Preston North End FC in 2005. The award-winning groundsman now oversees 7 members of staff over three sites.

PNE’s pitches boosted by Mansfield Sand

PNE’s pitches boosted by Mansfield Sand

Across those three sites, which includes Deepdale Stadium, the youth academy and the new first-team training centre, Pete has six Fibresand constructed pitches – and this is where Mansfield Sand come in.

“Mansfield Sand were used during my time at Blackburn FC, and I have personally dealt with them the whole time I have been here at Preston North End – the customer service has always been first-class,” said Pete.

“There are two products in particular that we use across the Fibresand pitches we have, and they are incredibly important to the playability of them.”

Pete uses Mansfield’s Fibresand, which is a pure sand and polypropylene fibre reinforcement product that is particularly advantageous when grass cover has been reduced due to heavy usage and wear during the winter period. It is incorporated into an upper sand soil rootzone and consolidated to provide a stable divot-free environment.

“We’ll use the Fibresand during renovations and how much we apply really depends on how much we need,” he said. “Mansfield Sand will usually come and take samples in December to see what our levels are and when we find out what the fibre content is, we will then know how much fibre we need to add. You need to have a certain percentage of fibre to keep that stability in your surface and have the best pitch you can.”

Historically, Deepdale Stadium was the only Fibresand pitch under Pete’s remit, but 2019 signalled the start of more and he has not looked back since.

“We used to have drainage issues on the pitches at the youth academy centre, but that has all changed now.

“I’m a big fan of Fibresand pitches and I like to think I am fairly good at dealing with them in whatever conditions are thrown at us. In the North of England, we get a huge amount of rainfall and the pitches let the water through with no problems at all – that is thanks to the great products from Mansfield Sand.”

Furthermore, Pete revealed that while he relies on Mansfield’s Fibresand for renovations, he will also use the company’s MM40 product.

“We’ll use the MM40 for a straight sand top dressing, especially for the pitches that aren’t having a full cultivation,” he said. “It is a brilliant medium sand and I always try and keep a couple of tonnes left over for goal mouths or any other areas.”

From winter sports pitches, golf courses, bowling greens and all amenity turf areas – Mansfield Sand has a solution for all.

For more information visit www.mansfield-sand.co.uk

You can also follow the company on Twitter – @MansfieldSand and Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/MansfieldSandSportSurfaces/

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Evolution Naturelle keeps Ham Manor healthy

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Evolution Naturelle keeps Ham Manor healthy: According to the Course Manager at Ham Manor Golf Club, Agrovista Amenity’s Evolution Naturelle fertilisers have been a driving factor in producing healthy, dense turf that recovers quickly.

Paul Brown has been the Course Manager at Ham Manor Golf Club in West Sussex for just over five years. It was the job he always wanted and was therefore delighted to be head hunted for the role while working in his previous job at Canterbury Golf Club.

Evolution Naturelle keeps Ham Manor healthy

Evolution Naturelle keeps Ham Manor healthy

Paul may well have been in greenkeeping for an impressive duration of 38 years but admits that he never stops learning – and believes this has certainly been the case over the past year.

“This period during Covid-19 has taught me a lot about turf management,” he said. “There were products that I thought were essential but actually didn’t have any impact when I removed them from the maintenance programme. We were faced with a limited budget and we had to look for value in money in products. Evolution Naturelle is one of those products – it is tried and tested, and we have faith in it.”

The process in which Paul decides on which products to use on the course is rather unique. Whether it is scepticism or the perfectionist in him, Paul always insists on trialling the products somewhat closer to home before applying them to his beloved course.

“If there is a product I haven’t used before, I will more often than not trial it on my own lawn in the garden,” he admitted. “Joe Dormer from Agrovista Amenity gave me some samples of the Evolution Naturelle, and I took them home with me. Boy, did it grow! It was the most amazing lawn anyone could ever have and after that I trialled it on the tees at the course. It worked so well that we rolled it out everywhere – tees, aprons, collars, greens, and areas around the bunkers.”

Evolution Naturelle is a premium range of organo-mineral fertilisers designed with a unique mode of action. Poultry based Evolution Naturelle contains essential nutritional elements such as phosphorus (P), potassium (K), magnesium oxide (MgO), sulphur (S) and iron (Fe) which are compounded to the advanced granulation making them available for plant uptake.

In particular Paul relies on Evolution Naturelle’s Sport Spring – which contains three nitrogen sources blended to optimise consistent grass plant response; and Micro Summer – for phased release and a steady growth response throughout the core of the growing season.

Evolution Naturelle keeps Ham Manor healthy

Evolution Naturelle keeps Ham Manor healthy

“They really are our go-to products,” said Paul. “We apply them throughout the season as a base feed and then will liquid feed or foliar feed on top. There are only two or three months where we can’t use them due to the soil temperatures being a bit low, but generally we are able to apply them most of the year. One of the benefits to using them is that we can use them on a wide variety of areas.”

Further benefits of the Evolution Naturelle range include:

  • Low carbon to nitrogen ratio
  • Provides healthy balanced growth due to phased release of nutrients
  • Complexed potassium for slow release
  • Promotes stimulation of bacterial soil life helping reduce thatch build
  • Hardens turf due to cell division and cell extension as a result of ammonium take up
  • No scorch risk due to low salt index when applied at the correct rates
  • Increased tillering for a denser sward
  • Ammonium produces large volumes of root hairs which ensure active up take of micronutrients

“They really are phenomenal,” continued Paul. “The Evolution Naturelle products have been a big driving factor in producing dense, healthy turf that is resistant to divot damage and recovers quickly from environmental factors such as Leatherjacket activity.

“We find that they provide a decent amount of growth without that huge push and they feed consistently for us. They are also a lot gentler than many similar products we have used in the past which is great because over the past few years my focus has been on encouraging soil health. When I started working here, the organic matter was 28% in the top 60mm and now we are around 3.5% and part of that, apart from all the cultural activities and thatch eating products, is the fact we have stayed clear of harsh products. Evolution Naturelle has been part of that process.

“I’d like to thank Joe Dormer for recommending the products,” added Paul. “Being a former greenkeeper, he is very knowledgeable and now he has an incredible range of products in his portfolio. There is a lot of mutual respect between us and I think there are times where we both learn from each other.”

For more information about Agrovista Amenity, visit www.agrovista.co.uk/amenity

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TurfCare bolsters presence in the Southwest

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TurfCare bolsters presence in the Southwest: TurfCare announce Andy Matthews joins the company in a technical sales support role.

Andy Matthews. 40 years within the industry mostly within the independent school’s sector, starting in June 1981 at Bradfield College as an apprentice where he studied Greenkeeping and sports turf at Berkshire college of Agriculture. He left Bradfield as Deputy Head Groundsman in 1993 to take up a position as Head Groundsman at Birkbeck College in Greenford. In 1997 when he accepted a position as Grounds Manager at Taunton School in Somerset where he met his wife Tori. In 2001 they moved to Harrow School to be the Grounds Manager.  During his time at Harrow, he oversaw the £5million upgrade of the sporting facilities. In 2011 he accepted a position at Clifton College in Bristol. where he has hosted international soccer, a rugby world cup training camp and county cricket.

TurfCare bolsters presence in the Southwest

TurfCare bolsters presence in the Southwest

“We are incredibly pleased that Andy is joining the TurfCare team said TurfCare UK Sales Manager Daniel Jones. “His background and experience will allow our entire team to further grow and support our customers in the Southwest. TurfCare General Manager Jim Holden said that we are delighted to welcome Andy to the team. He has 40 years of industry experience which offers the company and our customers access to his vast amount of experience and knowledge. We look forward to working with Andy in the next chapter of his profession.

“I am excited to join the TurfCare team and support our customers in the Southwest Region helping turfgrass managers select the correct products to match their agronomic needs, TurfCare offer some of the best products in the industry with their world-wide brands “Matthews said.

Andy will start with TurfCare from the 2nd of August and can be contacted through the following details 07584 046834 amatthews@turfcare.eu  +44 1425 472102   www.turfcare.eu

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