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A soggy but successful Scots Turf Show

June 3, 2025/in Turf Spotlight/by Admin

A soggy but successful Scots Turf Show: Susan Lindsay takes a tour around the third edition of the ever growing Scots Turf Show at Hamilton Racecourse. I walk into the grounds of Hamilton racecourse for this year’s Scots Turf Show and I am first given a voucher for £2 off food and greeted warmly. To […]

Green-tech’s donation to Gold Medal-winning Garden

May 30, 2025/in News, Press Release/by Admin

Green-tech’s donation to Gold Medal-winning Garden: Green-tech is proud to have supported the Garden of the Future at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025 by donating its Green-tree soil substrate, helping bring a powerful vision of climate-resilient horticulture to life. Designed by Butler & Parker and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the […]

A soggy but successful Scots Turf Show

June 3, 2025/in Turf Spotlight/by Admin

Green-tech’s donation to Gold Medal-winning Garden

May 30, 2025/in News, Press Release/by Admin

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

A soggy but successful Scots Turf Show

June 3, 2025/in Turf Spotlight/by Admin

A soggy but successful Scots Turf Show: Susan Lindsay takes a tour around the third edition of the ever growing Scots Turf Show at Hamilton Racecourse.

I walk into the grounds of Hamilton racecourse for this year’s Scots Turf Show and I am first given a voucher for £2 off food and greeted warmly. To my left is a robotic mower, meticulously cutting even green lines in the very wet grass. The rain has been coming down in sheets and my feet are already soggy after only five minutes of being on site.

A soggy but successful Scots Turf Show

All around me is a vast array of enthusiastic stall holders, public and impressive machinery. Each eager member of the public has some form of branded freebie, either on their head or over their shoulder and I am smiling with them at the camaraderie and shared level of interest present.

The food van is doing great business as the cold and wet attendees redeem their money off voucher. There is also free tea and coffee indoors, which I am very grateful for and have never experienced at any other event I’ve been to. I sit with my cup of tea, dry off a bit, charge my phone and look over the map that I also got upon entry.

Turf Tank have also got a piece of robotic machinery on show and I admire the precision line marking it is carrying out. The bold, crisp white lines the little bot is busying itself with is impressive!

First, I meet up with Andrew Donnachie from Iseki, the Regional Sales Manager for Scotland and Ireland. Scotland is their biggest market for winter pavement gritting tractors and the machinery on show today stands ready to fill the market’s needs.

Andrew tells me that it is nice to see more exhibitors this year, there’s been great footfall and that there is a real tight-knit atmosphere to this low-cost event for Scotland.

He feels it is important to showcase machinery using a smaller format and that bigger shows could benefit from learning from Scots Turf.

Key founder Alan Thompson, from SIS Pitches, credited the weather for driving people out to the show! With the rain so heavy, I can see why it may be a better day to come to Hamilton Racecourse.

With opportunities to participate in the seminars, watch demos and chat to stall holders, rather than sitting hunched over on a ride-on mower with every muscle seizing up in the damp cold, sounds more attractive to me too. The seminars range from water management research, climate smart turf management plus Q&A, nutrition and sports turf data.

What started for Alan over a fast-food meal with colleagues, has become a large event that he clearly feels passionate about. He tells me they invest what they make back into the Show along with donating sports products to five or six sports charities each year.

They prioritise product over financial gain. Ultimately his goal is to provide something in Scotland for Scotland as well as support local companies.

A soggy but successful Scots Turf Show

Next is key founder, Richard Heywood, from Campey Turf Care. When I ask Richard what the best part of the day for him will be, he tells me: “When I’m driving out of the gate to go home, knowing it’s been a job well done and all our efforts have paid off”.

He is particularly pleased that they were able to offer three seminar rooms this year with a PA tannoy system announcing when and where they would be held. The start of the day saw some damage from the wind and rain along with some panic as the tannoy microphone was lost. However, it didn’t take long to tidy up and find the mic and the event started to run smoothly from there.

Richard is keen to thank Laura and Mark, from Hamilton Racecourse, whose help has been invaluable and enabled the smooth running of the show.

Richard is excited to see where it goes from here and is looking forward to seeing many more fresh faces next year.

Richard doesn’t let me go empty handed and I am presented with my own woolly Scots Turf Show hat! I walk among the crowds, and I am jealously eyed by a few who stop me and ask me to tell them where they can get one. I am very glad to tell them that they can get one from either Richard or Alan, whose genuine passion for the show tells by just how much everyone has got from being here to see and experience everything on offer.

I have been to lots of events and a handful at Hamilton Racecourse and this is by far the best organised I have encountered. The feeling of giving back to the Scottish audience is tangible and genuine.

As my thick, attractive, woolly Scots Turf hat settles nicely onto my head, my only feedback would be it is too well insulated and my ears are so well cushioned, I cannot hear a thing… but what I do hear is lots of conversation about next year and what the future holds in store for this already successful event.

Green-tech’s donation to Gold Medal-winning Garden

May 30, 2025/in News, Press Release/by Admin

Green-tech’s donation to Gold Medal-winning Garden: Green-tech is proud to have supported the Garden of the Future at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025 by donating its Green-tree soil substrate, helping bring a powerful vision of climate-resilient horticulture to life.

Designed by Butler & Parker and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Garden of the Future received a prestigious Gold Medal at this year’s show. Constructed by Acacia Gardens, the thought-provoking installation explored sustainable living and resilient planting in the face of climate change, demonstrating how collaboration and innovation are key to supporting communities across the globe.

Green-tech’s donation to Gold Medal-winning Garden

Set in a near-future UK, the garden imagines a world where the climate is continuing to change. Where countries are experiencing higher-than-average temperatures, more extreme weather, periods of drought, and sudden, heavy rainfall. Designed to thrive in these conditions, the bio-diverse garden featured an array of climate-resilient ornamentals and crops, edible plants with multiple uses and properties, and tools that demonstrate how farmers, scientists, and communities are innovating to grow a healthier future here in the UK and globally.

Green-tech’s Green-tree soil substrate played a vital role in this climate-resilient landscape, providing a stable and sustainable growing medium for the garden’s structural planting and biodiverse scheme. Developed to offer high performance in urban and rooftop environments, Green-tree substrate was an ideal match for the garden’s semi-intensive, biosolar roof system, which was constructed with the support and donations from GRO (Green Roof Organisation) member businesses, including Green-tech.

Mark Wood, Business Development Director at Green-tech, comments, “We were proud to donate our Green-tree soil substrate to such an inspiring and important show garden. The Garden of the Future aligns closely with our values of supporting sustainable landscaping, futureproofing urban green spaces, and promoting climate resilience through innovation.”

The garden enabled visitors to understand the science and research behind these innovations, the challenges and solutions being developed by smallholder farmers, and what countries like the UK can learn from countries living on the frontline of climate change. By showcasing global innovators and their solutions, the Garden of the Future aimed to inspire visitors to believe in the power of innovation and collaboration to transform human potential around the world, as well as offering take-home ideas for growing plants in a more sustainable, climate-resilient way.

Alongside Green-tech, other GRO members who contributed to the biosolar roof system included Bridgman & Bridgman, PV Plus, TEP, Optigrün, Diadem, SIKA, Radmat, and Wraxalls.

To learn more about the Garden of the Future, visit www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-chelsea-flower-show/gardens/2025/garden-of-the-future

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Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

A soggy but successful Scots Turf Show

Green-tech’s donation to Gold Medal-winning Garden

A soggy but successful Scots Turf Show

Green-tech’s donation to Gold Medal-winning Garden

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

A soggy but successful Scots Turf Show

A soggy but successful Scots Turf Show: Susan Lindsay takes a tour around the third edition of the ever growing Scots Turf Show at Hamilton Racecourse.

Green-tech’s donation to Gold Medal-winning Garden

Green-tech’s donation to Gold Medal-winning Garden: Green-tech is proud to have supported the Garden of the Future at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025 by donating its Green-tree soil substrate, helping bring a powerful vision of climate-resilient horticulture to life.

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