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ICL paves the way for more games at Pride Park

September 13, 2017/in Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

ICL paves the way for more games at Pride Park Stadium: Nathan Scarff, Head Groundsman at Derby County FC, has revealed that a range of ICL products have helped him achieve his main target of hosting more games at Pride Park Stadium without compromising on the quality of the pitch. Nathan is entering his third season […]

Dennis selected as World Cup mower for third successive tournament

September 13, 2017/in Machinery, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Dennis Mowers selected as World Cup mower for third successive tournament: After being selected as the official mower at the two most recent FIFA World Cup’s in South Africa and Brazil, Dennis Mowers will be the mower of choice for the 2018 tournament in Russia. The Dennis G860 cylinder mower will have the task of preparing […]

ICL paves the way for more games at Pride Park

September 13, 2017/in Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Dennis selected as World Cup mower for third successive tournament

September 13, 2017/in Machinery, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

ICL paves the way for more games at Pride Park

September 13, 2017/in Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Nathan is entering his third season with The Rams after a hugely successful start to his current role. He was crowned the Sky Bet Championship Groundsman of the Season for the 2015/16 campaign and was one of two Head Groundsmen who were highly commended last season.

However, with the pitch at the Pride Park Stadium in arguably the best condition it has ever been, Nathan and his team won’t be resting on their laurels.

“We are targeting getting more games in the stadium,” he says. “In my first year here we got an extra four games on and the following season we got an extra four games on top of that. This year we are hoping to get around six extra games without compromising on the quality of the playing surface.

“The new pitch construction, which was installed last season, combined with quality products, has enabled us to do just this, and I’m feeling confident for the upcoming season.”

Ever the perfectionist, when Nathan started his new role, he was determined to find a range of products that would be most beneficial to the pitch at Pride Park Stadium and there was only one way to find out.

“When I first started here we used four different fertilizer suppliers and monitored them based on the reaction of the plant, the longevity of the product, the value for money – in terms of the amount we needed to get the reaction and how much it was costing. We experimented for most of the year – which included trial boards in which we treated one area while leaving another un-treated, and we did half pitch treatments – we carried out a number of different trials. All of the results just led us down one road – ICL.”

After a season of rigorous testing, Nathan was ready to look ahead to a new season in which he would incorporate a range of ICL products into his turf maintenance programme.

“During the renovation period and immediately after seeding, I’ll use a tank-mix consisting of Qualibra and SeaMax – just to get the best possible germination and early establishment. Four weeks later we will verticut and overseed to get any little gaps that may have been missed, particularly in the areas where we struggle to get any sunlight, and then we’ll add another application of Qualibra and SeaMax,” he said.

The unique combination of SeaMax and Qualibra work together to give turf the best possible start. Qualibra – a wetting agent, creates ideal soil and turf rooting conditions to make better use of available moisture and irrigation. Particularly beneficial during the growing-in period, Qualibra achieves great results when applied to the seedbed to accelerate the germination and establishment of new seedlings. Complimenting Qualibra is Sportsmaster WSF SeaMax from ICL. Boasting over 75% of active seaweed content, SeaMax has been proven to significantly improve turf colour and quality.

Independent trials have revealed that SeaMax helps the plant produce longer roots, a greater root mass and improves the quality of growth.

“Following the growing-in period, when we get to the four or five week stage, we start to apply a tank-mix consisting of Primo Maxx, Vitalnova Blade, Sportsmaster WSF soluble fertiliser and SeaMax,” says Nathan.

“We will continue to apply this mix every three weeks until October or November depending on how the weather goes for us. We then pick it up again in February or March and continue until the end of the season.

“Towards the end of last season I applied ProTurf 20.0.7 , which I had never used before, and I remember calling Emma Kilby (ICL Technical Area Sales Manager) asking why she hadn’t pushed me harder to use it! She had previously recommended it before but for some reason I didn’t go ahead.

She always offers me superb advice and I guess it shows that she’s not a pushy salesperson but this product is the best fertilizer I have ever used. It was fantastic and the benefits of the Polyhalite with the calcium and the magnesium were amazing – especially on a pitch that is naturally going to leach those nutrients more quickly. The longevity we got out of it was excellent, the reaction was brilliant and the value for money was exceptional too.”

As Nathan looks to continue his successful start to life at Derby County FC, it appears that he has no regrets over his choice of products.

“I had pretty much a full season to try and figure out the correct products to use on this pitch and I’m there now.

“For me, I’m not going to jump head first into a full-on programme on a basis that data from somewhere else is really good. It’s got to be my research, my trials and my data showed me that ICL is the way forward for us.”

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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Dennis selected as World Cup mower for third successive tournament

September 13, 2017/in Machinery, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

The Dennis G860 cylinder mower will have the task of preparing pitches for the world’s greatest football players when the 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks-off in June 2018. Almost all of the stadiums used throughout the tournament will have their pitches maintained by the G860 and that includes the venues selected for the latter stages of the tournament.

The stadiums hosting the quarter finals, the semi-finals and the final itself have been confirmed as the Luzhniki Stadium, Saint Petersburg Stadium, Kazan Arena, Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Samara Arena and the Fist Stadium Sochi – and all of these pitches will be prepared by a Dennis G860, while some will also utilise the Dennis Premier in conjunction with the G860 for matchday preparation.

At the last tournament, these final games attracted worldwide audiences of up to 3.2 billion people, and it is for this reason, among others, that the G860 has been selected, according to Steven Rienks – managing director of Queens Grass, who are the official Dennis dealer in Russia.

“Quite simply, the main stadiums chose the G860 because of the quality and the presentation it offers. They all want that perfect stripe which the G860 provides because they know it will be watched by a worldwide audience,” says Steven.

“For the past ten years Russian clubs have been using turf maintenance equipment from Dennis and 70% of the Russian Premier League teams have either a G860 or Dennis Premier mower. Many groundsmen over here know of their quality and their robustness – they know that they can use them for a diverse range of maintenance tasks without ever having any issues.

“In Russia, the weather is not ideal – for instance, in one area we only have around 60 days of sunlight over the course of a year, and the interchangeable cassette system really helps with maintenance procedures in a difficult climate.”

As Steven says, the Dennis G860 features an interchangeable cassette system to assist with a wide range of tasks. With a simple one minute changeover, users have the option of fitting eleven different types of heads including scarifiers, verticutters, brushes, spikers, and slitters as well as six or eight bladed cutting cylinders.

Lightweight at just 166kg; it is easy to manoeuvre and comfortable to operate. The handlebar console houses the controls – throttle, park brake, switches and cutter clutch and only the forward drive handle needs to be held in by the operator which reduces operator fatigue. The mower also features a large diameter front roller with an adjustable scraper which has been designed for a precise height of cut control, giving an excellent finish on every occasion.

“In my opinion I’m always delighted to supply Dennis equipment to our clients because it guarantees the quality our clients expect from us,” said Steven.

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

For the latest industry news visit turfnews.co.uk

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)

ICL paves the way for more games at Pride Park

Dennis selected as World Cup mower for third successive tournament

ICL paves the way for more games at Pride Park

Dennis selected as World Cup mower for third successive tournament

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

ICL paves the way for more games at Pride Park

Dennis selected as World Cup mower for third successive tournament

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