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New biocide gains momentum

October 26, 2020/in News, Press Release/by External Source

New biocide gains momentum: Following its recent launch, new biocide Enclean has made a successful introduction into the amenity sector following positive reports from early adopters confirms agronomist Robert Bone, Amenity Specialist with Agrovista. Mr Bone, who has over 35 years of industry experience, first saw the biocide in its development phase 18 months ago […]

Amazing result at Hever Castle

October 26, 2020/in News, Press Release/by Tony Hawkins

Amazing result at Hever Castle: The historic English Yew Maze at Hever Castle in Kent dates back to 1906 when it was created by William Waldorf Astor, a former owner who restored the castle. Hever was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII and mother of Queen Elizabeth 1. It draws […]

New biocide gains momentum

October 26, 2020/in News, Press Release/by External Source

Amazing result at Hever Castle

October 26, 2020/in News, Press Release/by Tony Hawkins

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

New biocide gains momentum

October 26, 2020/in News, Press Release/by External Source

New biocide gains momentum: Following its recent launch, new biocide Enclean has made a successful introduction into the amenity sector following positive reports from early adopters confirms agronomist Robert Bone, Amenity Specialist with Agrovista.

Mr Bone, who has over 35 years of industry experience, first saw the biocide in its development phase 18 months ago and was impressed with both its speed of action in eradicating algae and its positive effect on dealing with other green deposits that often build up on hard surfaces.

New biocide gains momentum

“I followed Enclean’s progress across a number of trials during 2019 and although it’s designed primarily to remove algae, trials have consistently shown the biocide’s main active ingredient, Nonanoic acid, also has a secondary effect on breaking down other green deposits that can accumulate on hard surfaces.

“Enclean is plant derived, safe to use, and it has no environmental hazard classification. It’s fast acting and, once applied, it quickly degrades into natural elements leaving behind no harmful residue,” he confirms.

Since the March launch Robert has been working with his customer base of ground maintenance contractors, county councils and local authorities conducting operator training courses to help them better understand the new biocide, its efficacy and level of control under different operating conditions and on different surfaces such as pavements, the outer surfaces of greenhouses, wooden decking and fence panels.

Despite the restrictions on face-to-face meetings due to Covid-19 he believes that Enclean has rapidly gained wide acceptance amongst his clients due to the success of the training courses and product demonstrations.

“Application advice is a key part of the agronomic service I provide to customers and the training courses are a good way of promoting best practice. Although there are a number of established biocides able to deal with algae, Enclean’s very low dilution requirement of 1L of product to 14L of water offering users over 550m² of coverage is a potential game changer allowing the operator to apply the product using a small knapsack sprayer.

“Often, when there is a build up of algae, it occurs in narrow pathways that have limited access to sunlight or wind. Many biocides tend to require large water volumes and that can be a serious problem if the large tank on an ATV or UTV mounted sprayer can’t access the area you need to treat. If you’re working in a relatively remote place, far away from a water source, another potential issue is accessing significant volumes of water to be able to do the job. Using a biocide that requires a relatively small amount of water from a knapsack sprayer can be a major advantage,” he explains.

Colin Simpson, Estimating and Purchasing Manager with Ray Skelton (Harrogate) Limited, also sees a positive future for Enclean following extensive product trials this year across a number of the company’s school maintenance contracts.

“We’re one of the largest horticultural and ground maintenance service providers in North Yorkshire and, until recently, we had been struggling to find a really effective hard surface biocide. With many schools closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic earlier this year it had caused a build up of algae on pathways around many school buildings due to the simple fact that people weren’t using them as often.

New biocide gains momentum

“One of the key considerations when we apply any chemical is the safety aspect. Not only the safety of our operator, but the health and safety of children using the pathways and making sure we don’t harm the environment. Enclean’s very low environmental hazard classification combined with a high level of operator safety ticked both boxes.

“When we look at contracts where we are spraying large areas, time is also a factor so the fact that Enclean does not foam in the tank meaning it can be cleaned out quickly following use was another positive. Based on our experience it is best to apply the product in dry, sunny conditions. Try to find a 2-3 day window of dry weather after application if possible. In the right conditions surfaces were completely clear within 14-21 days of application and there was no requirement for a follow up spray,” he confirms.

Simon Race, Director of Sports Turf Services Limited – a family run business based near York, also found that tank cleaning post application was both time consuming and problematic when using biocides that required large water volumes.

“We used to use Qualgex but, although it performed well enough, it foamed in the tank leaving a residue that required significant washing out of both the tank and pipes after the product was applied. We wanted something that was both quicker to mix and easier to apply using smaller quantities of water. Enclean was the obvious answer.

“As long as you apply at the advised rate in dry conditions you should see the correct visual signs of the algae and other green deposits beginning to turn brown and decay after just 2-3 days. Whilst 1 application will generally clear most surfaces we did find that when dealing with black algae engrained into older stone surfaces a follow up application will often be required to complete the job,” he concludes.

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Amazing result at Hever Castle

October 26, 2020/in News, Press Release/by Tony Hawkins

Amazing result at Hever Castle: The historic English Yew Maze at Hever Castle in Kent dates back to 1906 when it was created by William Waldorf Astor, a former owner who restored the castle.

Hever was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII and mother of Queen Elizabeth 1. It draws 350,000 visitors a year, most of whom will test their sense of direction and memory by walking the maze. Originally intended only for family use, it comprises more than 1,000 individual yew trees imported from Holland, it measures 80ft by 80ft (24.4m) and is 6,4000 square feet. The hedges reach 8ft (2.4m) in height and there is almost a quarter of a mile (0.4km) of pathways inside. The Yew maze is one of two at the castle.

Amazing result at Hever Castle

To maintain healthy Yew hedging requires decompaction of the beach pebble pathways and specialists Terrain Aeration carried out the work using their Remote Terralift machine. The baby of the Terralift fleet, the Remote weighs in at just eighty kilos and measures only sixty centimetres wide. This allows it to fit through narrow pathways such as the maze and work in confined spaces other machines cannot reach. It still has the power of a standard Airforce Terralift to hammer the hollow probe up to one metre deep and release a hydraulic blast of compressed air at up to 20Bar (28psi).

The roots of all plants need to respire and absorb oxygen from the air spaces between soil particles. If these spaces are closed the roots tend to die back from such areas. Soil loses airspaces by compacting, whether under its own weight or because it has been loaded by passing feet. The latter is very much the case for the Hever Castle maze. Having fractured the soil underground and created fissures, the Remote Terralift’s probe releases dried seaweed which expands and contracts with the moisture, and the probe holes are backfilled with Lytag aggregate to maintain aeration.

“It is absolutely necessary to ensure the health of the Yew trees which are nearly 115 years old.” Says Neil Miller, Hever Castle’s Head Gardener. “The last time we had Terrain Aeration do the aerating was ten years ago, so we know it works. It’s the only way to keep the old topiary alive. Terrain were with us for the day last January and treated the pathways and perimeter. The result is the Yews are looking extremely healthy.”

Since closure during the Covid-19 crisis, the maze at Hever Castle is currently closed to ensure the Yews fully benefit from the work. Although this is not essential it will make an added contribution to maintaining their good health. Terrain Aeration 01449 673783

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

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Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

New biocide gains momentum

Amazing result at Hever Castle

New biocide gains momentum

Amazing result at Hever Castle

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

New biocide gains momentum

New biocide gains momentum: Following its recent launch, new biocide Enclean has made a successful introduction into the amenity sector following positive reports from early adopters confirms agronomist Robert Bone, Amenity Specialist with Agrovista.

Amazing result at Hever Castle

Amazing result at Hever Castle: The historic English Yew Maze at Hever Castle in Kent dates back to 1906 when it was created by William Waldorf Astor, a former owner who restored the castle.

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