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Free fertiliser efficiency appraisals from Germinal at BTME 2017

November 11, 2016/in Industry News, Press Release/by Admin

Grass seed and turf care specialists, Germinal, will be challenging greenkeepers to scrutinise the nitrogen efficiency of their existing sward nutrient programmes with a free fertiliser appraisal at the BTME show in Harrogate from 17th to 19th January 2017. The company will also be showcasing its latest perennial ryegrass cultivar which has topped the Turfgrass […]

Andy Walker celebrates 40 years at SISIS

May 23, 2016/in News/by Admin

Andy Walker, Field Support Manager for Dennis and SISIS, recently celebrated an impressive 40 years of working for the company. It all started back in 1976 when a fresh faced 16 year old, took a chance and strolled into the SISIS factory looking for a job – the rest as they say, is history. Andy […]

Free fertiliser efficiency appraisals from Germinal at BTME 2017

November 11, 2016/in Industry News, Press Release/by Admin

Andy Walker celebrates 40 years at SISIS

May 23, 2016/in News/by Admin

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Free fertiliser efficiency appraisals from Germinal at BTME 2017

November 11, 2016/in Industry News, Press Release/by Admin

Cabrio: chart-topping fineness of leaf for tees, fairways and greens surrounds

Cabrio is the most recent addition to Germinal’s portfolio of perennial ryegrass cultivars for use on golf tees and green aprons. Formally introduced as a new cultivar last year, Cabrio sits at the top of the Turfgrass Seed booklet’s Series L list for 2017 thanks to a fineness of leaf scoring which is half a point ahead of its nearest rival.

Cabrio is available exclusively from Germinal as part of the company’s ‘Grade A’ range of grass seed mixtures. “The Grade A range has been designed specifically for use by professional greenkeepers and groundsmen,” Richard Brown, Germinal Amenity Sales Manager explains. “These mixtures only contain the most vigorous and highly rated cultivars, resulting in a range of dependable mixtures that consistently deliver results time and again.

“As predicted 12 months ago, Cabrio has entered the 2017 Turfgrass Seed booklet at the top of the Series L table thanks to its class-leading fineness of leaf score,” Richard adds. “At 8.8 it easily outperforms its nearest rival and gives greenkeepers, groundsmen and turf growers an excellent opportunity to produce a harder wearing sward that can not only tolerate a close mowing regime, but which will also give good ball roll or bounce and will be very attractive aesthetically.”

Cabrio is recommended for use on golf tees, golf green aprons, tennis courts and cricket outfields and is included in Germinal’s A5 Cricket, Tennis and Tees and A28 Superfine Ryegolf mixtures. It is also included in Germinal’s A10 Golf Tees and Divot Repairs mixture where it is partnered with a browntop bent, a creeping bent, a smooth-stalked meadow grass and a pair of fescues to create a seed mixture which gives a high density, wear tolerant sward and rapid repair capability.

Slow release fertilisers – the Activity Index challenge

Germinal will also be challenging visitors to BTME 2017 to examine the nitrogen efficiency of their current turf nutrition programme and to reconsider their fertiliser choice.

“The key remit for any golf or amenity nutrient plan is to ensure that the fertilisers used provide a consistent and long-lasting supply of readily available nutrients to the rootzone with the minimum of losses,” Richard Brown, continues.

“Whilst an increasing number of turf professionals have moved away from conventional quick release fertilisers in favour of more technologically advanced slow release products, it would be wrong to assume that all slow release fertilisers are equal.”

Mr Brown warns that, at best, the slow release fraction in methylene urea (MU) fertilisers only actually contains around two thirds of ‘true’ slow release N, whilst many contain less than half. “Put simply, that means the remaining nitrogen is either quick release, and therefore no more value than standard fertiliser, or so insoluble that it may take years to be released.

“In contrast, fertilisers which provide nitrogen in the from of isobutylidene diurea (IBDU) have an ‘Activity Index’ or efficiency rating of around 96%, meaning that almost all of the N supplied will be slowly and steadily released into a form which can be taken up by the sward for a period of around 12 weeks.”

In IBDU based fertilisers, the nitrogen is organically bound and therefore has a very low cold-water solubility rate. As such, it cannot be displaced from the rootzone by leaching or volatilisation to the atmosphere. This ensures that a single application of an IBDU slow release fertiliser, such as Floranid Turf or Floranid Permanent, is able to deliver a consistent supply of nitrogen over a period of up to three months.

“IBDU fertilisers produce a more even growth pattern, with none of the intense bursts of growth associated with regular applications of granular compound products,” Mr Brown continues.

“Unfortunately, not enough turf professionals are aware of the differences between the various types of slow release nitrogen, so we are challenging attendees to BTME 2017 to bring a copy of their current fertiliser’s specification to the Germinal stand where we will give a free assessment of the product’s nitrogen efficiency and activity index.

“A simple photo of the fertiliser bag’s ingredients table is all we need. From that we’ll be able to ascertain the activity index of the product and offer advice on how they can improve the efficiency of their sward feeding regime.”

Andy Walker celebrates 40 years at SISIS

May 23, 2016/in News/by Admin

Andy Walker, Field Support Manager for Dennis and SISIS, recently celebrated an impressive 40 years of working for the company.

It all started back in 1976 when a fresh faced 16 year old, took a chance and strolled into the SISIS factory looking for a job – the rest as they say, is history.

Andy showed his potential during a month’s trial and was offered a permanent role working on the shop floor. He remained in that position for a few months but the ever determined Andy had his heart set on development engineering, where five years later he was supervising that very same department.

2009 began another significant change of direction for Andy when he was promoted to the position of Field Support Manager. He was in this role for two years before the Howardson Group acquired SISIS and it was a move which Andy believes signalled the start of a perfect partnership.

“The two brands complemented one another perfectly – SISIS opened up markets to Dennis and Dennis opened new markets for SISIS.”

“It’s a nice feeling to work for a company that’s getting stronger and stronger all the time. There’s excellent management in place, the company is forward thinking and everyone supports each other.”

Andy admits that he never dreamed of where his career would take him and 40 years later he’s seen some of world’s most beautiful places, become a prominent and well respected figure in the turf care industry and seen first-hand the widespread adaptation of several technological advances. It’s an impressive achievement – but what’s the secret to his long and rewarding career?

“Quite simply – I love what I do. Throughout the 40 years not once have I ever woken up and dreaded going into work. The main reason that I’ve stayed in the industry for so long is because of the people in it – those I’ve met at bowling greens, cricket squares, football pitches, people from other companies and especially my colleagues over the years – they’ve become some of my closest friends and that’s something that money can never buy. It’s also been great to witness and be a part of the evolution of the turf care industry.”

Further information about the range of maintenance products available can be found by visiting www.dennisuk.com / www.sisis.com.

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow Dennis on Twitter @DennisMowers and SISIS @SISISMachinery. You can like the Facebook page –www.facebook.com/DennisMowersUK and www.facebook.com/SISISMachinery. You can also view the latest Dennis videos by visiting www.youtube.com/DennisMowers and www.youtube.com/SISISMachinery

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Free fertiliser efficiency appraisals from Germinal at BTME 2017

Andy Walker celebrates 40 years at SISIS

Free fertiliser efficiency appraisals from Germinal at BTME 2017

Andy Walker celebrates 40 years at SISIS

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Free fertiliser efficiency appraisals from Germinal at BTME 2017

Andy Walker celebrates 40 years at SISIS

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