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Suståne gets top marks from Farleigh School

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Suståne gets top marks from Farleigh School: More than a decade on from the switch to an organic feeding programme, the grounds team at Farleigh School in Hampshire are receiving more praise than ever before!

Staff, parents and pupils alike have cited how surfaces across the 70-acre site are providing consistent presentation and performance, despite the challenging climatic conditions, which Grounds Manager and Sports Coach Shaun Crowley attributes to the reliable results from 18-1-8+Fe and 5-2-4+Fe from Suståne.

Suståne gets top marks from Farleigh School

Suståne gets top marks from Farleigh School

“While we weren’t initially pressured to explore the organic route, it was something my predecessor and I were keen on – not just for the environmental benefits but considering the safety element for the children and the flexibility it provided on application rates. We have a packed schedule both during and between term-times so getting feed down without pupils around was challenging” explains Shaun, who has been Sports Coach at Farleigh School since 2011 and took over the role of Grounds Manager three years ago. “Russell Riley from Suståne came in 12 years ago and it became clear that as long as we could catch a bit of favourable weather, we would be able to apply the product more flexibly which has been a great benefit ever since.”

Starting on the cricket squares, before finding uses on the outfields and lawned areas, Shaun and his team of five have found the combination of 18-1-8+Fe and 5-2-4+Fe delivers exactly what they need – namely a kickstart in spring, followed by consistent health, colour and growth without flushes. “We’ll apply the 18-1-8+Fe when the temperatures rise, ideally March or April, to get the cricket surfaces ready for the summer season. We’ll then carry out three to four applications of the 5-2-4+Fe annually which we see as a ‘maintainer’, again on our cricket squares and on our Headmaster’s lawn area.”

Suståne 18-1-8+Fe is a two-part blend combining Suståne organic with urea nitrogen for enhanced and long-lasting colour, ideal for fine turf and sports turf applications, lawns and landscaping. Combining four forms of Nitrogen, including three types of slow-release, 18-1-8+Fe provides economical results over a 12-16 week period. 5-2-4+Fe is the original Suståne formula, providing a mix of nutrients for greater root development, increased soil porosity and stability and even colour and growth. Fully compostable, 5-2-4+Fe has also demonstrated outstanding disease suppression on wide variety of turfgrass diseases, including Red Thread, in trials.

“We know what we need from the Suståne products, we know when and where to apply them, and we know that they work. Russell is also a great person to have on the end of the phone. He pops in to make sure we’re on track and has given us some great advice for improving growth on some of our more problematic heavy-clay areas.” Shaun concludes, “I know it’s a phrase that gets used a lot, but these Suståne fertilisers do exactly what they say on the tin!”

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Battery power from Toro for The Open

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Battery power from Toro for The Open: The Open returns to Royal Liverpool Golf Club for the 13th time in July and helping prepare the course for the world’s golfing greats is Toro turfcare machinery.

While most of the machinery fleet at the famous links at Hoylake on the west coast of England is Toro, leading the charge on the greens, tees and surrounds are the Toro eFlex 1021 lithium-ion battery-powered pedestrian greensmowers and Greensmaster eTriFlex 3370 all-electric ride-on greensmowers.

Battery power from Toro for The Open

Battery power from Toro for The Open

A dedicated team of greenkeepers under the watchful eye of links manager James Bledge are making the final preparations to the course and Toro has been there every step of the way. In fact, the last time the club hosted the world’s oldest and most popular golf event in 2013, it had just taken delivery of six eFlex 1021 greensmowers and while plenty has changed since then, what’s stayed the same is the machine still entrusted to look after the greens and tees.

James explains: “We have a new par 3 which will be the biggest change since The Open was last hosted here – it is a very short but challenging hole with stunning views of the estuary and Wales. What hasn’t changed is the club’s commitment to sustainable course management in that we’re always looking for the best carbon-neutral options. And when you find a pedestrian greensmower that provides this level of precision and quality, powered by a battery, you don’t look anywhere else.

“The weather will dictate the greens speed for the week and the work we have done in the last year will ensure we have more control over this. For us that’s six teams of two out doing single and double cuts with the Toro eFlex 1021 pedestrian mowers.”

Joining the pedestrian mowers on the frontline is Toro’s Greensmaster eTriFlex 3370 all-electric ride-on greensmower. While this was the machine of choice for the greens at St Andrews at last year’s championship, at Royal Liverpool Golf Club it’s being used on the tees and surrounds.

James continues: “The eTriFlex 3370 is more than capable of achieving the standard required on the greens, as we saw so masterfully demonstrated at St Andrews last year. It is quite literally one of the best machines made and it’s a great greens choice, but with the acute run-offs on our course, hand cutting is the best bet.”

Despite the reliable machinery choices, that’s a lot of trust to put in the greens team to ensure a consistency of cut across the board for the eyes of the world surely. James agrees: “The greenkeepers are the heroes here. They’re the ones out there putting in the hours and miles; they are an extremely talented team.”

When James accepted the role of links manager in December 2021 the first thing on his to-do list was to prepare for The 151st Open and what could have been a baptism of fire for many was a dream role for James.

“I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this,” he says. “Creating the most diverse volunteer team handpicked from all the best places, bringing together someone from every championship venue, having mentors from across the world to turn to and having the best brands and businesses to work with has been rewarding and will be an incredible opportunity for everyone involved. It’s great to see everyone come together with the common goal to put on the best event possible.”

Machinery dealer Cheshire Turf Machinery who has worked with Royal Liverpool for over 20 years and Toro’s UK distributor Reesink Turfcare will be providing extensive championship support and a fleet of Toro machines for the duration of the historic event.

Steve Halley, managing director of Cheshire Turf Machinery, says: “It really has been striking how enthusiastic and excited James and his team are about staging The Open. We are delighted to support their efforts to make the event as successful as possible.”

Jon Cole, divisional business manager at Reesink Turfcare, comments: “It’s a privilege to be a part of The 151st Open and supporting the team at Royal Liverpool throughout the Championship again. We have worked with at least 30 of the 40 host venues of The Open that have taken place in our 40 years as Toro distributor and to be involved is always an honour.”

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idverde deliver with Euroflor from OAS

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idverde deliver with Euroflor from OAS: The installation of a wildflower meadow in a recreational and memorial ground has been cited as the ‘highlight of the year’ in a report summarising the work undertaken for Stratford-on-Avon District Council by contractors idverde in 2022.

Euroflor Rainbow Annuals supplied by Origin Amenity Solution (OAS) was selected to deliver a burst of vibrant colour and the results didn’t disappoint – with the success of the project overwhelming the team with positive feedback and securing further wildflower areas around the community.

idverde deliver with Euroflor from OAS

idverde deliver with Euroflor from OAS

idverde is Europe’s leading provider of grounds maintenance services and landscape creation projects. idverde’s clients in the UK include more than 200 public bodies and 55 housing associations, The Royal Parks in London, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Glasgow Airport and more than 100 blue-chip private sector businesses such as Vivo and Veolia.

“The council approached me to see how we could increase visual impact and biodiversity to an area of recreational land, making the space more welcoming for people and wildlife to enjoy” explains idverde Contracts Manager Alex Colbourne. “While we had worked with OAS before, we hadn’t had seed from them, so I spoke to our Area Sales Manager Andria Backhaus who took some soil samples and provided us with some excellent advice. With her experience, we prepared the area ready to sow the Rainbow mix at the end of April.”

Assisting Andria, Alex and the team of operatives with the sowing of the Euroflor was Howard Wood who, with over 40 years of experience in installing meadow lands across Europe, was well placed to provide a plan to achieve maximum results. “We followed their advice and started to see growth in approximately three weeks, and in six weeks we were in full bloom.” Alex continues, “I think it’s fair to say the results exceeded everybody’s expectations. We had an array of flowering species, bright and bold colours and the comments we received from the public was amazing.”

Euroflor Rainbow Annuals from OAS is a popular choice for those looking for rapid establishment and a long flowering period. The vibrant display changes throughout the year thanks to 14 different species – with early season Eschscholtzias and Iberis giving way to mid-season Poppies, Cornflowers and Flax, before Marigolds and Cosmos dominate towards the end of the year.

“Once the season was complete, we cut the growth back and then prepared the ground ready for the new seed, which went down a little later this year due to the cooler conditions.” Alex continues, “Together with introducing more wildflower areas this year, we have also had the opportunity to team up with a couple of local schools which has provided a great opportunity to teach children about the importance of habitat and ecology and get them involved with sowing the seeds. It’s been a real success all round and fingers are crossed for similar results this year and into the future.”

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PSH hosts visit from Canycom

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PSH hosts visit from Canycom: While most of the nation recovered from this weekend’s Coronation celebrations on Monday, PSD Groundscare were also celebrating a very special event – a visit from world-class Japanese manufacturer Canycom to their premises in Lancashire.  

Canycom President Mr Kaneyuki and Director of International Sales Mr Mori were met by PSD Managing Director Chris Gibson, Director Hilary Gibson, Sales Director Stuart Mercer and many of the team, in their first visit to the UK since launching a partnership with PSD last October.

PSH hosts visit from Canycom

PSH hosts visit from Canycom

After an official UK launch at Saltex, the extensive range of ride on brushcutters has been promoted at dealer events across the UK and to customers with national advertising, with the range showcasing again at this year’s event. Since the initial launch both companies have been focused on working closely together to ensure they have machines and after-sales back-up to support the UK dealer network and are both pleased with the progress made so far.

Despite it being a public holiday in the UK, when approached by Canycom about the trip, Managing Director Chris Gibson took the necessary steps to make it happen, saying,

“It was an absolute privilege to welcome both Mr Kaneyuki and Mr Mori to our offices. When we visited them in Japan last October their whole team made us feel incredibly welcome and we were delighted to be able to provide them with the same courtesy.

The visit was a real success as it allowed us the opportunity to update CANYCOM on the UK business and our further plans for a long-term partnership. We were also delighted to receive confirmation of an additional shipment of machines for the 2023 season that will allow us to both support the existing dealers and continue to grow our dealer network”.

Canycom President Mr Kaneyuki commented,

“We would like to thank Chris and his team for making our trip possible and such a warm welcome. We made our visit to gain a better understanding of the UK market and we return to Japan confident that with PSD we can work together as one team to ensure a successful long-term partnership.  We are two nations but we believe we can be a good family”.

PSD has a long-standing track record of expertise in brush cutting solutions and the Canycom range of ride-on brushcutters are perfectly set up for working in UK conditions and both companies are looking forward to what the future holds.

Founded in 1955, Canycom is renowned for the quality and excellence associated with Japanese manufacture. The company has progressed from a specialist in farm tools into a wide range of product categories̶, from agriculture and forestry to brush mowing and construction̶, supplying machinery to many different countries across the world.

PSD Groundscare is the exclusive UK distributor of niche specialist landscaping equipment, with an extensive range of products from market-leading names and innovative manufacturers including Eliet, Grin, Koppl and Stella.

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World’s first Line IQ from EGO

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World’s first Line IQ from EGO: EGO has revolutionised its range of cordless grass trimmers once more, with the introduction of world-first Line IQ™ Technology to its newest model.

Removing the hassle and complexity of feeding the line, the tool automatically feeds the correct amount of line to provide a 40cm cutting diameter. By sensing when the cutting swathe is reduced, Line IQ™ feeds out line to ensure maximum cutting efficiency, without users having to manually bump and feed the line. The innovative system is aided by EGO’s PowerloadTM technology which enables users to replace the line by simply threading it through the head eyelets and pushing a button.

World's first Line IQ from EGO

World’s first Line IQ from EGO

Adding to the tool’s useability, adjustable handles and a telescopic shaft allow it to be suited perfectly to the user by easily adapting to their height. Designed to tackle all trimming tasks around the garden with ease, two pre-set speeds make the grass trimmer suitable for everyday work and those tougher jobs.

Alongside the latest technical developments and innovations, the brand-new grass trimmer is powered by EGO’s 56V Arc Lithium battery technology. Delivering industry-leading levels of reliable cordless power, EGO’s batteries can be used interchangeably across all EGO products for even greater convenience.

EGO Power+ products come with extended domestic warranties up to five years when registered within 30 days of purchase.

The ST1610E-T kit, including tool, a 4.0Ah battery and a standard charger, retails at £429. Standalone tool is available for £279.

Discover the full range at www.egopowerplus.co.uk

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