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Green-tech and HC Wraxall Announce Strategic Partnership

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Green-tech and HC Wraxall Announce Strategic Partnership: Green-tech has announced a strategic partnership with HC Wraxall to strengthen its green roof substrate supply in the South of England. This collaboration will see Wraxalls manufacture, bag, and distribute the market-leading Green-tree Intensive substrates.

This collaboration represents the culmination of a longstanding relationship between the two companies, both renowned for their contributions to the UK green roof sector. It reinforces their commitment to raising standards and promoting sustainable practices.

Green-tech and HC Wraxall Announce Strategic Partnership

Green-tech and HC Wraxall Announce Strategic Partnership

Both parties recognised the potential for joining forces to grow their market share in substrate supplies. Wraxalls will manufacture and bag the Green-tree Intensive product in the south. In turn, Green-tech will offer substrate in the north, reducing lead times and transport-related carbon emissions. This arrangement provides both parties with a wider geographical area and the ability to maintain quality product supply.

Green-tech’s range of Green-tree soils and growing media is one of the most comprehensive in the industry. Products are manufactured using organic compost and overburdened sand from quarries, which would otherwise end up in landfills. Green-tree products are used in projects focused on environmental sustainability and maintaining green credentials.

Green-tree substrates have been specified on many green roof projects throughout the UK and are currently serviced from their facilities in North Yorkshire. By aligning with Wraxalls, Green-tech aims to streamline delivery and availability, making it easier to meet growing demand from urban and green infrastructure projects in the South of England and London.

Mark Wood, Business Development Director at Green-tech, commented, “Wraxalls has been a respected supplier and member of the UK green roof sector for many years, and this agreement marks a new chapter in our relationship. With the growth in the UK Green roof sector, expanding our supply capabilities in the south is sensible. Our two companies share common values and goals, and working with Nigel Wraxall and his team to finalise this agreement has been a pleasure. It’s exciting to see Green-tech’s strategy for growth in the market and our push further into Green Blue infrastructure taking shape.”

Nigel Wraxall, Managing Director of HC Wraxall, echoed these sentiments. “I’m delighted to be partnering with Green-tech. I’ve known the business and Mark personally for many years and have been impressed by their approach and ambition. I look forward to increasing our supply in an exciting and rapidly expanding market. Our collective expertise and infrastructure mean customers across the UK will have even better access to high-quality green roof substrates. As demand for sustainable building materials continues to rise, this agreement puts us in a strong position to meet the needs of the industry.”

Production is already underway, with stock available to service the southern market. This partnership solidifies Green-tech and Wraxalls as key players in delivering sustainable and innovative green roof solutions, reinforcing their commitment to advancing the green building movement in the UK.

This collaboration marks a new era in Green-tree substrate availability, providing clients with easier access to sustainable materials while maintaining the highest quality standards and environmental responsibility.

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OAS Products and Formartine FC’s Journey to Gold

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OAS Products and Formartine FC’s Journey to Gold: In the rugged terrain of Aberdeenshire, where the winds howl and the rains pour relentlessly, lies Formartine United Football Club, a beacon of grassroots football passion in the Scottish Highlands.

Despite a modest budget and a mere two months of sun (if they’re lucky!), Formartine FC has defied the odds with their pitch, recently bestowed with the prestigious Gold status by the Scottish Football Association (SFA).

OAS Products and Formartine FC's Journey to Gold

OAS Products and Formartine FC’s Journey to Gold

Behind this remarkable achievement is not just hard work and dedication but a revolutionary approach to pitch management, rooted in organic principles and powered by Symbio products, a subsidiary of Origin Amenity Solutions (OAS).

Leading the charge is the Head Groundsman of Formartine United FC Paul Fiske. With 35 years of greenkeeping and grounds management experience, including a 22-year tenure as the former head groundskeeper at Aberdeen FC, Paul’s passion knows no bounds. For the past six years, he has tended to Formartine’s pitch, with unwavering support from committee members and volunteers who share his dedication to excellence.

Formartine United Football Club is a semi-professional Scottish senior association football club currently playing in the Highland Football League but with ambitious plans to make higher leagues through the pyramid system.

Despite operating on a modest budget, the football club based in Pitmedden prioritises the maintenance of its grounds above all else, thanks to a chairman who understands the importance of investing in quality infrastructure and spends more on the pitch than other teams in its league.

Paul’s partnership with OAS dates back 15 years to when he began working with Symbio’s technical representatives. He has a bespoke programme tailored to Formartine’s unique challenges which incorporates a range of biological products including Mycorrhizae Inoculant, Mycrogro fertiliser, Compost Teas and Liquid Aeration, and biostimulants like CMS Shoot and Seaweed.

“Our programme works,” says Paul Fiske. “It is well regarded that our pitch is the best in our league. It is a soil-based pitch with minimal disease. We tweak things as necessary. The changing weather means it is not an exact science. The Symbio Mycorrhizae Inoculant is truly an unbelievable product – It really accelerates grass establishment and speeds up the pitch renovation process. It’s not a cheap option, but the results speak for themselves. With the short window for pitch renovations, every day counts, and the Mycorrhizae Inoculant ensures that we get the job done efficiently.”

Complementing the Mycorrhizae Inoculant is Mycrogro fertiliser, which provides essential nutrients for robust plant growth, and Compost Tea, which promotes soil health and biodiversity. Liquid Aeration, a noninvasive alternative to mechanical aeration, helps alleviate soil compaction by stimulating microbial activity and improving water infiltration, ensuring optimal playing conditions throughout the season.

Navigating the unpredictable Scottish weather, where rainfall has reached unprecedented levels, Paul relies on OAS’s innovative solutions to keep the pitch in play. Liquid Aeration and products like HydroAid play a crucial role in managing water movement and promoting optimal soil health, ensuring that the pitch remains resilient despite adverse weather conditions. “I have needed to use more Liquid Aeration than usual, but it’s important to use it at the right time; I watch the forecast closely and apply products ahead of the weather. HydraAid and Liquid Aeration are fantastic for pulling the water off the surface and speeding up percolation.”

Looking ahead, Formartine United F.C. harbours ambitions of climbing the ranks. Paul reflects on their journey and says “The results speak for themselves. Despite the challenging climate and heavy usage, Formartine’s pitch boasted an impressive 90% grass coverage when the 2023/24 season drew to a close. It’s clear to see that the pitch is actually performing better than some topflight Scottish clubs, even ones in the same region with bigger and better resources and less usage” concludes Paul, “given the usage Formartine gets, it’s a credit to the unwavering support of the chairman, the organic products from OAS, hard work and good working practices carried out with professionalism.”

Formartine United FC is a shining example of what can be achieved with passion, innovation, and a little help from nature. As they continue to defy expectations and chase their footballing dreams, one thing is certain – their pitch will always be a source of pride and envy for many clubs in their league and higher across Scotland.

If you would like OAS to help compile a programme for you, call the team on 0800 138 7222 or email sales@originamenity.com

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Johnsons delivers tried and trusted performance

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Johnsons delivers tried and trusted performance: A programme of Johnsons J Fairway has been praised by the team at Woodbridge Golf Club, after delivering tried and trusted performance for more than a decade.

Such is the consistency and quality of results from the 100% fescue blend on the fairways, Course Manager Paul Lawrence is now employing another 100% fescue mix from the Johnsons Sports Seed range on the clubs 27 greens as they seek to improve drought and disease tolerance.

Johnsons delivers tried and trusted performance

Johnsons delivers tried and trusted performance

Woodbridge Golf Club boasts a 9 and 18-hole course, well renowned for its exciting play and stunning heathland surroundings. When Paul joined the club in November 2014, Johnsons J Fairway was already extensively used across the fairways and, ten years later, remains the only mixture that suits their conditions. “It would be remiss not to keep an eye on new mixtures, but we continue to find that nothing performs like J Fairway year-in, year-out” says Paul.

He continues, “It gives us fantastic, hard-wearing surfaces and has demonstrated outstanding tolerance to drought over the years.” Paul emphasises that this was particularly evident during the summers of 2018 and, more recently, 2022. “Despite the extreme drought, as soon as the rain returned the fairways came back in a flash which is testament to its recovery, and the deep rooting nature of fine fescues. It can also be sown late into the year and it’ll establish and germinate as soon as conditions are right.”

Johnsons J Fairway blends five top-ranking fescue cultivars to deliver sustainable fairways with improved sward quality and reduced management cost. Ideal for heathland and parkland courses, J Fairway has high visual merit and shoot density, along with industry-leading tolerance to drought and turf diseases including Fusarium.

“Because of how well this mix performs, we are now in a position of not having to conduct much in the way of overseeding – more just monitoring and spot-treating certain ‘bottleneck’ areas.”

In attempts to replicate the resilient results on the greens, Paul has recently embarked on an overseeding programme with Johnsons J Fescue on the back of advice of DLF’s Craig Spooner and local distributor Aitkens. “We’d like to achieve a bent/fescue composition which, moving forwards, will put us in a better position to withstand environmental pressures and lower our inputs of water and fertiliser. We’re overseeding twice a year and are already seeing fantastic results!”

For more information on all the high-performance mixtures available across the Johnsons golf and sports turf seed range, visit www.johnsonssportsseed.co.uk

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Water Savings and wash-off

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Water Savings and wash-off: Thetford Golf Club is a free draining course set in a wonderful part of Heathland in East Anglia. The Breckland Forest where the course is located, winds its way through many variations of trees and heathland, sets the perfect scene for any golfer to enjoy.

After joining the club in the early part of 2024 Course Manager, Matt Perks and the club had ambitious plans to drive the course condition forwards by improving water security resources and irrigation. Part of this included upgrading the wash facility in the greenkeeper’s facilities. However aware of the impact on the environment that washing off so many machines could have, his and the club’s attention focused to address the issue. Two matters high on the agenda 1) The conservation of water and obligation to sustainability  and 2) Prevent pollution of the ground water ensuring compliance with current Groundwater Regulations. Matt believed that a new wash-off facility with water recycling was the way forward and researched suitable solutions.

Water Savings and wash-off

Water Savings and wash-off

A ClearWater wash pad recycling system from Acumen Waste Services looked to be the ideal solution for the club and a site meeting was arranged. Following this visit by the company, specifications were drawn up and a quotation provided.

Matt wanted to make use of existing concrete in the yard and amend this to ensure budgets could be achieved, this was no problem for ClearWater.

Matthew Mears ClearWaters director explained: “With sustainability being a major factor in business now and multiple machine washing at one time, ClearWater’s 5,000 litre (1320 gallon) capacity with two powerful hoses is more than adequate and also allows sufficient dwell-time for the biological treatment.” Thetford chose a turnkey package quoted by Acumen ClearWater and all work was carried out within a week schedule.

What was it that made ClearWater the choice for the club? The club takes their environmental responsibilities seriously and sustainability is key, so is a compliant washpad and water savings became a must. Matt Perks said; “ClearWater was the best choice after seeing that it could be installed below ground and that we could utilise an existing redundant area.” ClearWater does provide advantages over other solutions: there’s no noise as the system is below ground, all you will hear is the wash water jet leaving the water guns! Also, the system recycles treated water with very little loss, as the dedicated wash pad with it low curb surround is constructed in such a way as the waste wash water is discharged through grass traps and into the underground tank by gravity for treatment. Some water loss will occur through evaporation, particularly in hot weather. However, the system is topped up by rainwater falling on the wash pad , so no mains water feed needed.

Machinery wash-off for many has clearly demonstrated huge water consumption and wastage for many years at an ever-increasing cost, financially and environmentally. Water has become an increasingly valuable resource. Washpad water recycling is the way forward for those in the turfcare maintenance sector and other business needing wash off. With water savings in excess of 90% achievable.

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Jacobsen SLF530 tames tricky ‘rig and furrow’ with ease

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Jacobsen SLF530 tames tricky ‘rig and furrow’ with ease: For golfers, ‘ridge and furrow’ adds both visual impact and added challenge to a course. The previous plough lines with their raised ridges and sunken furrows, bring a little more theatre to the game and give a historic nod to the past.

Strathaven Golf Club, in South Lanarkshire, has three fairways – the 6th, 10th and 11th– all of which boast deep and dramatic undulations.

After finding some mowers less than successful at dealing with their rise and fall, Steve Hunter, Head Greenkeeper, has purchased a Jacobsen SLF530 from Scottish dealer, Fairways GM at Renfrew.

“This machine is all about extra care for tees and aprons and undulating fairways. It follows the line down into them so much better and doesn’t leave any missed bits. The smaller cutting heads, the way it floats and pivots, just help give it a cleaner cut and all-over smooth finish.

“Other machines are a little faster but the benefit of the SLF530 is the quality and definition to the surfaces. It’s out once a week now, but twice a week minimum in the summer,” he said.

Stuart Cameron, Area Sales Manager from Fairways GM was on hand to advise, deliver and install the machine.

The team at Strathaven GC, comprises five qualified greenkeepers and two apprentices. In 2023, the team won the BIGGA Greenkeeping Project of the Year award.

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