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Made for Golf and Groundsmen

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Made for Golf and Groundsmen: From the tee to the green, from natural to synthetic sports pitches, as a greenkeeper or groundsman your primary aim will be perfection. Achieving this and maintaining your course and grounds to the highest possible standards requires specialist equipment you can trust. Machinery that gets the job done in the minimum time, is durable and affordable and above all, designed to specifically meet your needs. GKB Machines have been making a name for themselves with high praises from greenkeepers and groundsmen around the UK.

Seeding and surface aerating in one pass

Take the GKB Combiseeder for example. It offers a fast, efficient way of seeding and surface aerating with virtually no surface disturbance. Creating over 1500 holes per m² it provides accurate seed application at various rates to suit different seed mixes, with drag brushes to incorporate seed and topdressing. The Combiseeder can be used for overseeding and initial seeding and offers a fast and efficient way of seeding and surface aerating, with virtually no surface disturbance. There’s a large seed hopper with agitator brush and you get accurate seed distribution from all seed mixes. There are models from 1.2m to 2.1m and there are options of a multi spike cast ring roller or Cambridge roll cast ring roller.

Made for Golf and Groundsmen

Improve and maintain drainage with the GKB Sandfiller

Every professional knows scarifying and sand filling are the perfect combination to improve and maintain drainage on the course. The problem is, it can be a time-consuming task requiring dedicated equipment for each process. GKB have come up with the ideal solution, saving you time and expense and leaving you free to get on with other jobs.
GKB Sandfiller combines in one operation scarifying, removal and sand filling. Which means the operation can be carried out by one person, saving on time and cost. The principle of the Sandfiller is based on the much praised GKB Combinator. The slitting rotor utilises carbide scarifying blades that create wind in order to lift the removed material. The blades remove thatch to a depth of 4cm and the debris is immediately distributed to a sideways tipping container. Dried sand is instantly applied from the hopper to the trench the moment the scarifying is complete. The result is the area is once again available for use immediately.

Top dresser that’s always in fashion

When it comes to top dressing there’s a GKB machine that is just the job. The GKB SP100 has been developed on the back of the success of GKB’s trailed versions and to meet your needs with straightforward mounting onto turf trucks using a simple bolt-on system. Stand legs allow the SP100 to be quickly set up or removed. With its 1m3 hopper capacity the machine suits a variety of purposes, evenly distributing materials, such as sand and mulch with variable spread widths and depths. It’s easily fitted with electro-hydraulic controls and runs directly off the hydraulics of the chosen turf truck. Furthermore, the Sandspreader is available in four different designs which range from 1m3 to 4m3. While the SP100 is suitable for assembling on a turf truck: the ProGator, Truckster or Workman for example, other designs are provided with four pivoting balloon tires, for the perfect distribution of the weight on your golf course.

If you would like to know more about how GKB Machines can help improve and maintain your course or sports pitches a have a chat with Tom Shinkins on 07495 883617 or visit www.gkbmachines.com

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What’s White, Green And Read?

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What’s White, Green And Read?: Noisy. Dirty. Uncomfortable. Polluting. Not words usually associated with gardening, but terms regularly connected with petrol. A new whitepaper from EGO looks at the benefits of lithium-ion battery versus petrol powered outdoor equipment.

Steve Roskell, marketing director (EMEA) of EGO comments: “In the world of professional landscaping and grounds maintenance, petrol has been the fuel of choice for over 100 years – mainly because there has been no viable challenger. Recently however, battery powered cordless equipment has begun to gain worldwide popularity and increased market share, signalling the most significant shift in the sector for decades.”

What's White, Green And Read?

There are four key factors driving this trend: health & safety, user comfort, the environment and economics, all outlined in a dedicated whitepaper commissioned by EGO, which looks at how to increase safety, productivity, sustainability and cost-effectiveness in commercial gardening.

The whitepaper provides extensive evidence of the potential risks posed by petrol to user health and the environment and the benefits of battery powered tools to company cashflow.

Steve continues: “In each of these areas, the benefits of lithium-ion batteries over petrol are overwhelming. Moreover, the emergence of new generation batteries and equipment by global manufacturers such as EGO means that lithium-ion batteries can now match or even surpass the performance of petrol, without any of the drawbacks.”

These were all considerations the brand had when designing its latest range of professional equipment, a range of tools that perform beyond the expectations of even the most challenging user. The new range consists of a hedge trimmer, blower, and grass strimmer – all using the unique EGO Power Plus Arc Lithium 56v battery or the new BAX1500 battery backpack.

Displaying the key attributes of battery powered tools, the new EGO professional range is simpler, cleaner, quieter and with less vibration than most of its petrol counterparts making it more comfortable to use. With lower running and maintenance costs, switching to EGO will lead to long term savings, without any down time or reduced productivity, making them ideal for facilities teams, and ground care professionals alike.

EGO has created a White Paper outlining the benefits of switching from petrol to battery garden tools. This is available to download via the EGO Power Plus website: egopowerplus.co.uk/whitepaper

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£2.6m Pledged For Trees And Green Spaces

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£2.6m Pledged For Trees And Green Spaces: Trees and green spaces will feature in a number of projects which will receive an investment £2.6 million from Natural Resources Wales (NRW) over the next two years in order to improve Wales’ environment.

The projects were selected under the four themes of reducing the risk from environmental hazards; improving habitat management, biodiversity and connectivity; improving access to the outdoors; and using the environment to support the economy and develop skills.


Among the successful bids are:

  • Roots and Water, a project by Severn Rivers Trust with the Woodland Trust to raise awareness of the importance of tree planting for multiple benefits such improving air quality, reducing flood risk and creating habitats for wildlife in the upper Severn area of mid-Wales. They will work with landowners, volunteers and community groups to plant native hedgerow trees and propagate the black poplar tree.
  • Shared Spaces, a project run by Hay-on-Wye Town Council to create green corridors in and around the town to link wildlife habitats and so tackle the decline in biodiversity, with wooden sculptures and interpretation boards on the route’s wildlife.
  • Nature for Health, a joint venture by Denbighshire Countryside Services and the Denbighshire County Council Housing Department, which will use environmental social prescribing and GP referrals to encourage communities to access and enjoy their local green spaces.
  • Gower Hedgerow Hub, to address the over 800km of hedgerows on the Gower peninsula recorded as in poor condition, by engaging and training landowners and volunteers to create an intact, continuous hedgerow to act as a wildlife corridor.

Chair of NRW’s Strategic Funding Board Rhian Jardine said: “We need to make the most of our resources and we must find new, innovative ways to deliver the best outcomes for the environment, for wildlife and for people.

“Our commissioning approach, where we set out the challenges for specific areas of Wales, generated interest across all sectors, and we have several partners who will receive funding for the first time.”

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EcoBunker and Capillary Concrete Collaboration

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EcoBunker and Capillary Concrete Collaboration: The Bukit course at Singapore Island Country Club, originally designed by Scottish legend James Braid in 1924 is the venue for a new partnership between two of the worldʼs leading bunker technology firms. At SICC, Capillary Concrete and EcoBunker have come together to produce bunkers that are fully sealed; lined with Capillary Concreteʼs industry leading product, and with a low edge produced using EcoBunkerʼs patented synthetic solution.

Five bunkers have been built under the supervision of EcoBunker’s global installation specialist, Llewelyn Matthews on the short par three seventeenth hole of the Bukit course, which was the only hole on the course not to be included in a renovation completed in 2017. After the success of this trial work, the club intends to move forward with a similar treatment of all 80 bunkers on its Island course.

EcoBunker and Capillary Concrete Collaboration

Although the EcoBunker solution has been most commonly associated with revetted bunkers as seen typically on links courses, Capillary Concrete CEO Martin Sternberg, who was at SICC for the initial build, says that this joint offering is ideal for use in a much wider range of circumstances. “This low edge solution is ideal for courses that want dramatic reductions in the cost of bunker maintenance,” he said. “For us at Capillary Concrete, we know our product works well for the base of bunkers, but we have many clients for whom the EcoBunker edging solution is an important source of added value. Combining the two solutions produces bunkers that look good and are totally sealed and impervious to penetration.”

Richard Allen, EcoBunkerʼs CEO, said: “We have known for a long time that our solution works very well for these low edged bunkers as well as for the more traditional-looking revetted bunkers with which we are associated, but it is great to get this kind of recognition from a company of Capillary Concreteʼs status. The links between us are strengthening as evidenced by our joint portfolio and many new clubs are set to benefit as the pipeline of future similar projects grows’’

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Celebrate UK Parks and Green Spaces

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Celebrate UK Parks and Green Spaces: Thousands of people, in hundreds of communities across the UK, will come together this weekend to celebrate local parks and green spaces as part of the Fields in Trust charity’s “Have a Field Day” campaign on Saturday 7th July.

As the heatwave continues Britain is set for an elite sporting weekend with Wimbledon, England’s World Cup Quarter-Final and the women’s cricket One Day International against New Zealand. Summer weekends like this inspire young people to get out in the park, emulate their heroes and aspire to be part of the future of sport.  Every sporting superstar started their journey in a local park or green space – Have a Field Day recognises the importance of these spaces to our communities – and to the nation.

Celebrate UK Parks and Green Spaces

Over the weekend park users, Friends of parks groups and community organisers will join a movement, championing the green spaces that are so special to them. Have a Field Day is a day to enjoy your local park with friends, family and the community. These self-organised local events across the UK will take many different forms: perhaps a party in the park, a sports day, a village fete, or maybe joining with neighbours to enjoy a Have a Field Day picnic. But this is not simply fun in the sun – recent research by Fields in Trust demonstrates that parks and green spaces across the UK provide people with over £34 billion of health and wellbeing benefits. The research Revaluing Parks and Green Spaces demonstrates National Health Service savings of at least £111 million per year based solely on prevented GP visits by regular park users.

Fields in Trust Chief Executive, Helen Griffiths, said: “At a time when parks and green spaces are under threat Have a Field Day is the opportunity to celebrate their value and their proven physical and mental health benefits. These are valuable places; places where we can all move, breathe, run and play. We need to champion and support these precious spaces by protecting them for people to enjoy in perpetuity. Because once lost, they are lost forever.”

Events taking place on Have A Field Day are expected to be as varied as the parks that will be hosting them, from small picnics amongst neighbours to large summer fetes with thousands in attendance.

One such event will be at Stanley Park in Blackpool, last year’s winner of the UK’s Best Park, as voted by YOU! award run by Fields in Trust, where around 3,000 people are expected at a family fun day. The event, part of Blackpool’s Wordpool Festival will include arts, outdoor reading, pop-up cinema and much more.

On a smaller scale, Friends of St George’s Park in Kidderminster will celebrate their tenth anniversary with a family picnic and games. The park was given to the people of Kidderminster in 1927 and in July 2013 was protected in perpetuity with Fields in Trust as a Queen Elizabeth II Field, ensuring it will always remain a green space for the local community.

Meanwhile, in Edinburgh, the Friends of Starbank Park will welcome hundreds to their Bubble Festival and picnic including face painting, chalk drawing, old-fashioned games, fun races, storytelling and refreshments.

Heritage is a theme which underpins the Have a Field Day campaign, with the first Saturday in July marking the date Fields in Trust was founded by King George V at the Royal Albert Hall in 1925. Throughout the 1930’s a series of Playing Fields Days helped raise funds towards the organisation’s work, and eight decades later some events will be fundraising for Fields in Trust as part of their events.

Whilst Have a Field Day takes its roots from the past, it is very much about the future of our public parks which are at a critical juncture. Research has found that 92% of local authority park departments have experienced budget cuts in the past three years and that between 2014 and 2016 a total of 214 playgrounds were closed by 65 local authorities across the UK. Yet despite the cuts parks and green are a much-loved heart of many local communities.

Fields in Trust’s research calls for a revaluing of our parks and green spaces as a resource which contributes to public health, mental wellbeing and community cohesion, not simply being viewed as a drain on council finances for upkeep.

Have a Field Day is championing our green spaces, calling for their protection from development and raising awareness of the positive impact they have on our communities.

Inspired? Get involved with Have a Field Day by:

  • Hosting an event this Saturday! It’s not too late to register and receive your free support pack through the post including bunting and our ‘Top Ten Tips’ inspiration card.
  • Tweeting about why your local green space is so special to you using #LoveYourLocalPark
  • Finding your nearest Fields in Trust protected space
  • Saving the date for Have a Field Day 2019 – Saturday 6th July!

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