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Seeding is simple with the Dennis S500

November 17, 2023/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Seeding is simple with the Dennis S500: The Dennis S500 Plus seeder is helping to get the lawns into shape at Cheltenham Ladies’ College according to Ross Spry, Head of Grounds and Gardens. After initially starting his career in greenkeeping, Ross Spry has been working for various colleges in the UK for over a decade. […]

Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC selects Wiedenmann GXi8 HD

November 16, 2023/in News, Press Release/by Val Graham

Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC selects Wiedenmann GXi8 HD: Only a handful of top golf courses can boast a lighthouse at the end of their road. Fewer still have pods of dolphins swimming regularly on a rising tide, literally, minutes away. The award-winning Fortrose & Rosemarkie Golf Links, on the Black Isle, near Inverness, is steeped […]

Seeding is simple with the Dennis S500

November 17, 2023/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC selects Wiedenmann GXi8 HD

November 16, 2023/in News, Press Release/by Val Graham

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Seeding is simple with the Dennis S500

November 17, 2023/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Seeding is simple with the Dennis S500: The Dennis S500 Plus seeder is helping to get the lawns into shape at Cheltenham Ladies’ College according to Ross Spry, Head of Grounds and Gardens.

After initially starting his career in greenkeeping, Ross Spry has been working for various colleges in the UK for over a decade. At Cheltenham Ladies’ College he oversees a grounds team consisting of seven members of staff who tend to the sports facilities and gardens.

Seeding is simple with the Dennis S500

Somewhat of a perfectionist, Ross recognised that the College lawns needed some attention and was quick to act.

“The lawns were not in the best shape, and there was a lot of weeds and moss, and thatch build-up in them,” he said. “We bought a scarifier and an aerator to try and alleviate this problem, but I wanted a machine to put seed back into the ground effectively rather than just broadcasting it.

“We looked at various brands of seeders and we found the Dennis S500 Plus to be the best for us.”

Ideal for bowls, cricket, golf and other fine turf and ornamental lawn areas, the dual-purpose Dennis S500 Plus has a 510mm (20″) operating width complete with interchangeable spiker and slotter reels. The spiker reel punches through the ‘surface pan’ allowing air, water and fertiliser to penetrate the root zone, while the slotter reel creates ideal seed germination pockets thus reducing seed wastage. Using the optional seed box attachment will ensure grass seed is dropped onto the ground at the prescribed rate and brushed into the pockets.

“We normally seed in the spring and autumn and before using the S500 Plus we apply a selective weedkiller to try and get rid of the weeds and moss,” said Ross.

“It is so simple to use, and it does exactly what we want it to do. It’s not heavy and it is nice and compact. Some of the lawns at the school are very small, so to have a seeder the size of the S500 Plus is ideal. It is also a lot more accurate than doing it by hand – you get more contact with the soil and better germination.

“The S500 Plus’ best feature is just how user friendly it is and it makes the task of seeding enjoyable.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact Dennis 01332 824 777 or visit www.dennisuk.com

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow Dennis on Twitter and Instagram @DennisMowers and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/DennisMowersUK. You can also view the latest Dennis videos by visiting www.youtube.com/DennisMowers

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

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

Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC selects Wiedenmann GXi8 HD

November 16, 2023/in News, Press Release/by Val Graham

Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC selects Wiedenmann GXi8 HD: Only a handful of top golf courses can boast a lighthouse at the end of their road. Fewer still have pods of dolphins swimming regularly on a rising tide, literally, minutes away.

The award-winning Fortrose & Rosemarkie Golf Links, on the Black Isle, near Inverness, is steeped in both history and nature.

Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC selects Wiedenmann GXi8 HD

Unsurprisingly, its golfing pedigree is also on point; a Championship links course, it is the 15^th oldest recorded club (1793) and was redesigned by the legendary James Braid in 1932.

Head Greenkeeper, George Paterson, knows a thing or two about links golf. His greenkeeping journey includes spells at The County Sligo Golf Club, Rosses Point, Scotscraigs Golf Club and Moray Golf Club.

In September, George said goodbye to his 20-year-old Wiedenmann Terra XP6 deep aerator, trading it in for a new GXi8 HD. The deal was struck with John Morton, Regional Sales Manager at Wiedenmann UK’s Scottish dealer, Fairways GM, who sold him a Wiedenmann SL6 Terra Spike six years previously.

“This investment is about productivity,” said George, “We’ve chosen the best tools that let us mix and match our approach to aeration. Speed is now more important than depth because of the shingly nature of our soils.

“Compared to the XP6, the GXi 8 is much quicker. Being 20 cm wider is helpful, but ultimately our focus is to cover large areas very neatly in a shorter amount of time. With a narrower, slower machine, intentions were always to get around as many fairways when we could, but for lots of reasons we’d get diverted or miss the window. We’ll be far more efficient and get aeration done. This fits our John Deere 4610 perfectly, just skirts outside the tractor wheels and leaves very little disruption, even with a fair amount of heave.

“The SL6 is on our John Deere 2720 compact tractor and does a great job on hard-to-reach tees and greens. Mid-October we cone tined greens prior to overseeding and top dressing, so it’s still very much in our plans. The GXi 8 will take over some of its work though, it can do places where access isn’t an issue.

“We purchased multi-tine heads, nail tines and solid tines for the GXi8 to bring variety. The cluster heads (multi tine holders) were the first thing we used. Our greens were still reasonably firm, so didn’t want too much disturbance, but we gave them a quick treatment to help any heavy or freak showers to drain quickly from the surface. We inserted four 5 mm nail tines (5 mm/135 mm) to each multi tine head, set to 50 mm spacings, to a depth of about 100 mm on two rows of the machine.

“It’s not quite the same as deep aeration, but a very useful exercise. It just gives the tops of the greens a bit of air. Annually, we’ll do that twice across the summer. The greens have now also been solid tined with 12 mm tines to a depth of 180 mm with 4% heave.

“For the fairways, we’ll take a bigger solid tine, so 20 mm, but work will be much faster than before. We need to be mindful of play. Even in winter our course remains very busy, visitor traffic tails off a little, but we stay open when weather affects other courses nearby, so we don’t see a big drop in numbers.”

George is assisted by a team of three qualified greenkeepers and a new apprentice.

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.

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Seeding is simple with the Dennis S500

Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC selects Wiedenmann GXi8 HD

Seeding is simple with the Dennis S500

Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC selects Wiedenmann GXi8 HD

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Seeding is simple with the Dennis S500

Seeding is simple with the Dennis S500: The Dennis S500 Plus seeder is helping to get the lawns into shape at Cheltenham Ladies’ College according to Ross Spry, Head of Grounds and Gardens.

Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC selects Wiedenmann GXi8 HD

Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC selects Wiedenmann GXi8 HD: Only a handful of top golf courses can boast a lighthouse at the end of their road. Fewer still have pods of dolphins swimming regularly on a rising tide, literally, minutes away.

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