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Barenbrug’s Drought Advice

August 14, 2018/in Education, News, Press Release/by Tam Henderson

Barenbrug’s Drought Advice: After a recent prolonged period with little rainfall, Dr David Greenshields from Barenbrug UK has advised greenkeepers to ‘act fast’ to save drought-torn grass, and has offered 5 tips for maintaining year-round playability. 1) Beware a false sense of security After a smattering of rainfall, lower-lying areas and perennial grasses (fescues, bents and ryegrass) are […]

Fantastic Flexibrush At Overstone

August 13, 2018/in Machinery, News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Fantastic Flexibrush At Overstone: Overstone Park Resort, based in Northampton, have been left delighted by the fantastic results they’ve received from the SISIS Flexibrush on their fairways, which are looked after by course manager Lawrence Ryan. Set in 193 acres of Victorian countryside, Overstone Park Resort boasts a wide array of incredible facilities including a 31 room hotel, […]

Barenbrug’s Drought Advice

August 14, 2018/in Education, News, Press Release/by Tam Henderson

Fantastic Flexibrush At Overstone

August 13, 2018/in Machinery, News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

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Barenbrug’s Drought Advice

August 14, 2018/in Education, News, Press Release/by Tam Henderson

1) Beware a false sense of security

After a smattering of rainfall, lower-lying areas and perennial grasses (fescues, bents and ryegrass) are now greening up and demanding mowing once more. However, high spots and areas colonised with the shallow-rooted weed-grass Poa annua are mostly dead.

After several wet summers, these bare areas in many courses are extensive, as conditions have been conducive for Poa annua to thrive. The recent weather has redressed the balance and created a perfect opportunity to exploit.

If left alone, the bare areas will become green again, but do not mistake this for “recovery”. The new vegetation will most likely arise from new wind-blown Poa annua seeds, or worse, moss and other weeds. This is only a short-term fix and one that compromises playability and aesthetics.

2) What to do about it (and the hidden opportunity)

In dead areas, now is the time to act. Use this as an opportunity to establish drought-tolerant perennial turfgrasses, to prevent problems from happening again. Scarify and remove dead material as quickly as possible and overseed with a specialist mixture.

Do not sit back and wait for weeds to colonise; this is a race against time to get seedlings established before winter. Overseeding with so much space for seedlings to grow (versus a wet summer with a tight sward), is going to be a lot easier for healthy, robust grass to establish.

3) Convincing greens committees to invest

Course managers understand this is an obvious course of action, but convincing committees that overseeding large areas can be challenging.

If budgets are prohibitive, target one or two really bad fairways and overseed these at an appropriate rate. This is a better strategy than spreading your efforts too thinly. Document the project and use it to your advantage the next time the issue arises.

Under a range of stress factors, these areas will demonstrate what can be achieved with investment. For example, ryegrass on tees and fairways will offer improved drainage in wet conditions over Poa thanks to increased root structure and less thatch build-up. On Poa-dominant greens, more bentgrass will improve year-round playability, aesthetics and disease tolerance.

4) Save now, pay later

If annual meadowgrass establishes between now and autumn, and we get another harsh cold winter, it will undoubtedly quickly die back again. Re-turfing before next playing season may be your only solution in this case. Overseeding now with a hardy mixture may well save your club having to pay for more expensive repairs later.

5) Another drought doesn’t have to mean disaster

This summer we’ve seen lots of customers seeing the benefits of previous overseeding investment. That’s because bents, fescues and ryegrass are far more tolerant than annual meadowgrass and will recover quickly after drought. With so many courses struggling to maintain playability in this heat, and talk of an Indian summer to come, now is the time to act.

Download Barenbrug’s Drought Guide here.

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Fantastic Flexibrush At Overstone

August 13, 2018/in Machinery, News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Set in 193 acres of Victorian countryside, Overstone Park Resort boasts a wide array of incredible facilities including a 31 room hotel, 115 Scandinavian style lodges, a state-of-the-art gym, tennis courts, a bowling green; and arguably the jewel in the crown – a stunning 18 hole parkland golf course.

Lawrence, who has been a greenkeeper since leaving school, has held the position of course manager for the past two years and by all accounts it appears to be an exciting time for all involved at the resort – new owners have signalled their ambitions by heavily investing in Overstone and the membership, which currently sits at around 600, and continues to grow significantly on a yearly basis.

The course is quickly gaining a reputation as one of the premier golfing venues in Northamptonshire, which is testament to the work of Lawrence and his five members of staff who ensure that the course is kept at a consistent quality all year-round.

With a vast selection of turf care equipment in his armoury, Lawrence is particularly impressed with his SISIS Flexibrush – a tractor mounted brush which is ideal for both synthetic and natural turf surfaces. In Lawrence’s case, he has reported great results from using it for a number of tasks on his fairways. Featuring a 5.35 metre working width, its brush sections ‘float’ to follow ground contours providing maximum efficiency on large areas.

“It’s a great piece of kit which is extremely versatile,” he said. “Primarily we use it prior to cutting which ensures a quality cut every time. In the mornings, we will go out with the Flexibrush to remove the dew from the fairways. Also, because we block cut them, we will use it to stand the grasses up before cutting. We simply run the brush in an opposite direction to the way we block cut which results in a nice and even cut.

“Presentation wise, the Flexibrush provides us with fantastic striping which the members really like and appreciate. We can follow up with it behind the fairway mower, enhancing the presentation. This summer, due to the dry weather we’ve experienced, we’ve reduced the amount of cutting and used the Flexibrush for striping instead. It means we can skip cuts which saves a significant amount of time for the team as it’s quicker than mowing and gives us the presentation that is expected by the members.”

The SISIS Flexibrush, which is also commonly used for effectively dispersing top dressings, has hydraulically folding outer sections for storage and movement between areas and Lawrence claims that this feature provides him with even more versatility.

“You’ve got the hydraulic arms on it as well which means you don’t have to have all three of them down at the same time. Therefore, if you want to work on smaller areas with it then you can. It’s very versatile, offers extremely low maintenance and it fits onto our tractor incredibly well. The Flexibrush is also a time saver when you need a quick turnaround. You can whizz round the fairways with it within a couple of hours, whereas you could spend all day cutting and striping them beforehand.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact SISIS on 01332 824 777 or visit www.sisis.com

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 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)

Barenbrug’s Drought Advice

Fantastic Flexibrush At Overstone

Barenbrug’s Drought Advice

Fantastic Flexibrush At Overstone

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Barenbrug’s Drought Advice

Fantastic Flexibrush At Overstone

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