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ICL Relied Upon At Shrewsbury School

December 11, 2018/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

ICL Relied Upon At Shrewsbury School: With a short window of opportunity to transform his Summer sports pitches into Winter sports pitches, Andy Richards, Grounds Manager at Shrewsbury School, can’t afford to take any risks with the products he uses. It is for this reason that he relies upon ICL products– all of which he […]

Discover PrecisionPro At BTME

December 11, 2018/in Events, News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Discover PrecisionPro At BTME: A visit to the Sherriff Amenity stand (110), located in the Blue Zone at BTME 2019, will offer attendees an opportunity to find out more about the award winning PrecisionPro app, which recently scooped the SALTEX 2018 Innovation of the Year Award. PrecisionPro, is a dedicated app for sports turf to measure any […]

ICL Relied Upon At Shrewsbury School

December 11, 2018/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Discover PrecisionPro At BTME

December 11, 2018/in Events, News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

ICL Relied Upon At Shrewsbury School

December 11, 2018/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

It is for this reason that he relies upon ICL products– all of which he says will guarantee him the results expected at the prestigious school.

2018 marks eight successful years at Shrewsbury School for Andy Richards. His groundsmanship journey all began at Birmingham City Council where he stayed for seven years before moving to King Edwards Grammar School. Three years later Andy accepted the position of Head Groundsman at Birmingham City FC but his passion for a multi-sports environment was always evident. Further spells at British Airways Clubs and Christ College in Brecon reignited his passion before being named as the Grounds Manager at Shrewsbury School.

Now Andy finds himself at arguably one of the most used sports facilities in the UK’s education system. If it was a challenge Andy was looking for, then it is safe to say he has found one.

“I don’t think I’m far off having the most amount of football, cricket and rugby matches in the whole of the UK,” he says. “Last year we played host to just over 1,900 winter sports games – which is a lot especially when you have to cater for that amount in such a short renovation period.”

Last year, Andy’s final cricket game was played on the 6th August, leaving him an incredibly short window to prepare football pitches for the first game which was played on the 7th September. After ‘Koro-ing off’ eight of the pitches Andy had just 28 days to ensure the pitches were playable for the opening fixtures.

“Last year was hard,” he says. “Fortunately, I have 100% confidence in the ICL products I use and even though the weather went against us we still did it.”

After “Koro-ing off” the pitches, Andy applies Qualibra wetting agent at 10 L/ha (half rate) to aid the seeding process. He then top dresses before applying a base feed of SierrablenPlus Renovator 20-20-8 at a rate of 35g/m² in which the micro mini-granules ensure even distribution for young seedlings while its high Phosphate levels encourage strong root growth.

Once the seed has germinated and Andy reaches the second leaf stage, he applies Primo Maxx II at 0.8 L/ha which he tank-mixes with humic and fulvic acids to help with the uptake of iron and to avoid any yellowing of the leaf. Based on his assessment of the plant Andy will, more often than not, go with another granular feed in the form of Greenmaster Pro-Lite NK 12-0-12 at 35 g/m² which gives the turf an added boost complimenting SierrablenPlus which is consistently offering a controlled release of Nitrogen.

Seven to ten days after the first application of Primo Maxx II, he reapplies it at a slightly higher rate of 1 L/ha, before another application of Qualibra at 10 L/ha just to help hold water in the profile.

“These particular products just seem to work for us,” he says. “Take Qualibra for example, it gives us a huge advantage in the seeding process. If you happen to have a hot spell, sometimes you only need as little as three hours of it being too hot and then your seed dies but Qualibra gives you that protection because it is extremely effective in holding moisture in the rootzone.

“The products I use guarantee results at each stage of our renovation programme and that makes this renovation window so much easier. I can’t risk anything not working. I have a tried and tested method with these products now – I have done it for the last five years and it works perfectly.

“I trust in ICL and in my opinion the products just seem to be getting better and better all of the time. They are creating new technologies which turf and sports pitches need. There are no gimmicks – it is all fact and they have trials and research to prove it.

“I also receive great support from Emma Kilby (ICL Technical Area Sales Manager) who helps me put together the programme. We speak a lot on the phone and she is always there if I need her. It’s nice to be able to bounce ideas off one another and we are always looking at any improvements we could make.”

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

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Discover PrecisionPro At BTME

December 11, 2018/in Events, News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

PrecisionPro, is a dedicated app for sports turf to measure any area, guide the operator in calibrating a spreader for any granular product and also help apply fertilisers accurately. It was created due to the common issue of turf managers misjudging green/sport surface size which often results in problems such as over applying or under applying fertilisers – both of which can have a negative effect on turf performance, disease and budget.

PrecisionPro allows turf managers to have an accurate measured area by simply opening the app and walking the perimeter of the area. Calibrating spreaders has always been a difficult task but with the Calibrate feature in the PrecisionPro app, users are guided through each step of the process. Furthermore, its advanced GPS functionality informs the user when to start and stop the calibration process.

The app also features a function to ensure that every operator walks at the same speed – if someone is walking too fast or too slow then they are alerted by colour coded screens. As well as calculating the g/m2 and the operator’s walking speed, the Apply feature ultimately ensures that the exact amount of nutrition is being applied to the turf.

Sherriff Amenity’s all new Plant Bio-Stimulant Guide, which will be available to pick up on the stand, seeks to explain the term ‘Plant Bio-stimulant’ and explores the activity of an extensive range of plant bio-stimulants, along with their specific claims and intended area of influence. The guide also includes a table of bio-stimulants, indicating their main benefits and specialisation. There are also further considerations on choosing the correct bio-stimulant product, relative to its area of use and to ensure, the purchase of a quality product, given current UK bio-stimulant regulations.

Turf professionals visiting BTME will also be in with a chance of winning some warm merchandise clothing. Simply visit the stand to register your interest and by the end of the day you could be walking away with an Evolution fertiliser branded hoodie or a PrecisionPro branded snood.

The Sherriff Amenity technical team will be out in force at BTME and will be on hand to offer any advice on all things turf. The stand will also feature a coffee barista so why not visit stand 110 in the Blue Zone, have a coffee and find out just how Sherriff Amenity can make a significant difference to the way you manage your turf.

For further information, please contact Sherriff Amenity on 01638 721 888 or visit www.sherriffamenity.com

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

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Follow us on Twitter 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)

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ICL Relied Upon At Shrewsbury School

Discover PrecisionPro At BTME

ICL Relied Upon At Shrewsbury School

Discover PrecisionPro At BTME

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

ICL Relied Upon At Shrewsbury School

Discover PrecisionPro At BTME

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