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ICL’s Greenheaven tall fescue is the cultivar for Black Bears

August 24, 2023/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

ICL’s Greenheaven tall fescue is the cultivar for Black Bears: Miles Properjohn, Head Groundsman at Black Bears Polo Club, has been relying on ICL’s Greenheaven cultivar in an attempt to increase the percentage of tall fescue in the one of the world’s most renowned polo pitches. Lower Bolney Farm in Oxfordshire, home of Black Bears […]

GreenMech appoints Neal Hussey

August 24, 2023/in News, Press Release/by Elena Cossar

GreenMech appoints Neal Hussey: A familiar face in the groundcare and arboricultural industries has joined GreenMech as their new Direct Sales Manager. Bringing with him over 30 years of industry experience, Neal Hussey will be working with customers and aftermarket dealers across large swathes of the Midlands, while his East-Anglian roots will also see him […]

ICL’s Greenheaven tall fescue is the cultivar for Black Bears

August 24, 2023/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

GreenMech appoints Neal Hussey

August 24, 2023/in News, Press Release/by Elena Cossar

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ICL’s Greenheaven tall fescue is the cultivar for Black Bears

August 24, 2023/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

ICL’s Greenheaven tall fescue is the cultivar for Black Bears: Miles Properjohn, Head Groundsman at Black Bears Polo Club, has been relying on ICL’s Greenheaven cultivar in an attempt to increase the percentage of tall fescue in the one of the world’s most renowned polo pitches.

Lower Bolney Farm in Oxfordshire, home of Black Bears Polo Club, has deservedly gained a reputation for having some of the best facilities in the UK. The five polo grounds are kept in immaculate condition by a dedicated team of grounds staff. Pitch 5 in particular is the talk of the polo community and those that have been fortunate enough to play on it have declared it to be the “best field in the UK – if not the world”.

ICL’s Greenheaven tall fescue is the cultivar for Black Bears

The grounds team is led by Head Groundsman Miles Properjohn, a long-term employee who has honed his skills at Black Bears, and he explained the reasoning behind using ICL’s Greenheaven.

“The pitch was originally sown with tall fescue, and we have since used other cultivars for a few seasons,” he said. “We are now keen to build back the percentage of tall fescue as we see its benefit in providing a hard wearing, low input, and great playing surface for polo. The polo schedule is very busy here with high goal being played and the players have incredibly high expectations of how the pitch should play.

“Whenever choosing a seed we always refer to the BSPB/STRI guide and we also do our own plot trial of any new seed to assess its germination speed and visual characteristics. Greenheaven was no exception.”

Greenheaven, from ICL, is a European-bred tall fescue which presents a midgreen compact growth habit. A fine leaf texture combined with excellent disease tolerance makes Greenheaven a very visually appealing variety.

Miles and the team sowed Greenheaven in September 2022 as part of a post season renovation: “Germination and development were very good after overseeding, and we found Greenheaven to be a finer more attractive cultivar than other versions,” he said.

“The tall fescue has been extremely hard wearing under a high level of wear from all the matches. It has a dense root structure and has great stability in the turf.”

Greenheaven also features excellent drought tolerance, something which Miles believes is essential. “When making a decision on species/cultivars, drought tolerance is of high importance. The irrigation is used to provide the correct firmness and traction for the ponies and players, so irrigation is for playability more than plant health. Irrigation is time consuming so the sward will have periods of no irrigation therefore the pitch needs to have excellent drought tolerance. In the hot/dry summers of 2018 and 2021 it was the only thing that was thriving. Water security and responsible water usage will be a factor for the future, so affects the decision-making process.”

Commenting on the use of Greenheaven at Black Bears Polo Club, ICL’s Martyn Parrish, said: “It’s been very much a collaborative effort learning from each other along the way, listening to Miles’ unique needs and requirements to produce a top polo pitch and providing the correct product advice and solutions to meet those needs.”

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-growing solutions.uk or www.icl-growingsolutions.ie if you are in Ireland.

For more news and insightful views, you can follow ICL on Twitter @ICL_Turf

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GreenMech appoints Neal Hussey

August 24, 2023/in News, Press Release/by Elena Cossar

GreenMech appoints Neal Hussey: A familiar face in the groundcare and arboricultural industries has joined GreenMech as their new Direct Sales Manager. Bringing with him over 30 years of industry experience, Neal Hussey will be working with customers and aftermarket dealers across large swathes of the Midlands, while his East-Anglian roots will also see him supporting dealer TNS in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.

Neal boasts a well-rounded sales and technical background, starting his career in the groundcare industry as an apprentice technician in 1982. He progressed to service manager before moving into sales roles from the turn of the millennium – working for Ben Burgess & Co for 19 years and playing an instrumental role in building and establishing their dedicated Arb department. After a short period working for Fuelwood selling a range of arb and forestry products, his most recent sales position was at Tallis Amos Group (TAG).

GreenMech appoints Neal Hussey

He joined leading woodchipper manufacturers GreenMech in August 2023 as their new Direct Sales Manager, offering dedicated support to customers in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire. Neal will also be working with established dealer Thurlow Nunn Standen (TNS) across East Anglia.

GreenMech Sales Director Martin Lucas comments “I am delighted that Neal has joined the GreenMech team. His strong foundation of knowledge and industry experience will no doubt help him succeed in this new role within the company”.

“With such a strong portfolio of British-designed and built woodchippers, including the popular EVO series, it feels like a very exciting time to be coming on-board” Neal adds. “I look forward to familiarizing myself with the range and customers old and new over the coming months.”

Born and bred in Norfolk, Neal’s spare time will be taken up either by spending time with family in the area or taking his seat at Carrow Road to watch his beloved Norwich City Football Club!

Neal can be contacted via mobile on 07788 411619 or email; neal@greenmech.co.uk

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 and Instagram 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’s Greenheaven tall fescue is the cultivar for Black Bears

GreenMech appoints Neal Hussey

ICL’s Greenheaven tall fescue is the cultivar for Black Bears

GreenMech appoints Neal Hussey

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

ICL’s Greenheaven tall fescue is the cultivar for Black Bears

ICL’s Greenheaven tall fescue is the cultivar for Black Bears: Miles Properjohn, Head Groundsman at Black Bears Polo Club, has been relying on ICL’s Greenheaven cultivar in an attempt to increase the percentage of tall fescue in the one of the world’s most renowned polo pitches.

GreenMech appoints Neal Hussey

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