Tag Archive for: Green

Celebrate parks and green spaces

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Celebrate parks and green spaces: Green space charity Fields in Trust is collaborating with parkrun to celebrate the wellbeing benefits that the UKs parks and green spaces have delivered during the coronavirus crisis.

The joint campaign invites park users to share stories of how important green spaces have been as places to exercise, relax, reflect and as a safe place to meet loved ones and connect with our friends and our neighbours.

Celebrate parks and green spaces

Celebrate parks and green spaces

The #notjust campaign identifies the different ways communities engage with outdoor spaces, A local green space is #notjust a park, it has so many more intangible benefits, emotions and memories that contribute to our physical health, mental wellbeing and community contacts.  Park users are invited to celebrate their local green spaces by recording video clips or taking photographs celebrating what their local park means to them and their families and sharing the stories on the campaign website www.fieldsintrust.org/notjust and social media using the #notjust hashtag.

Speaking on the joint campaign, parkrun’s Global Head of Health and Wellbeing Chrissie Wellington said “if there’s one thing to lift our spirits, it’s being outside in the open air, being connected to nature and moving our bodies. We need parks more than ever before and this means taking steps to protect, value and, importantly, celebrate them. We are proud to join hands with Fields in Trust to do just that and would like to encourage everyone to get involved by sharing what your park means to you and the wonderfully diverse and amazing ways you have been using them over the past year. Together we can make sure that parks are here for us, and for all those who follow in our footsteps”.

As places for us to remain physically distanced but socially connected local parks have come to the fore this year. Data shows increased usage of green space throughout the year, but the campaign also recognises that access to parks and green spaces is not equally distributed across the UK.

Fields in Trust Chief Executive, Helen Griffiths, said: “2020 has been an incredibly difficult year but imagine how much more difficult it would have been without our local parks. For thousands of us the park was a daily lifeline. Now as we approach the end of that year – but sadly not yet the end of the crisis – we want you to join with us and our friends at parkrun to celebrate just how much we’ve all valued these spaces. Parks are one of the unsung heroes of the pandemic and if there was ever a time to show our appreciation for parks and how important they are to our collective health and wellbeing this is it! Let’s take this opportunity to work together to protect the future of these precious spaces because one they’re lost, they’re lost forever.

Park users are invited to share stories of their own much-loved local parks at the campaign website www.fieldsintrust.org/notjust and share on social media using the hashtag #notjust.

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Green light for green weed control

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Green light for green weed control: Greentown Environmental Ltd and Weedingtech’s Foamstream have been chosen by Dublin City Council for the provision of herbicide weed control across the Dublin City area.

It is the first contract of its kind in Ireland, with the council making the bold decision to move away from herbicide-based weed control and seek greener alternatives. Greentown has been carrying out weed control for Dublin City Council since 2010, initially as a subcontractor before securing the principal contractor role in 2014.  Greentown is a weed control company, not a chemical company, and in 2017 they started exploring glyphosate alternatives.

Green light for green weed control

Green light for green weed control

In 2018 they trialled several chemical-free methods and Foamstream was the clear winner.  With a strong belief in this product, Managing Director John-Ross Armstrong decided to heavily invest in the equipment required to carry out this service to its full potential. “We are responsible weed control providers and we wanted to source a viable alternative, so we have this as an option to offer our clients.” He says. “We are conscious that there has been a shift towards greener methods, and we wanted to ensure we have a solution and that we are the market leader.”

Foamstream is an innovative approach to weed control and has the desired benefit of being completely herbicide free.  Its patented low-pressure process combines heat with biodegradable foam, making it safe for use around people, animals, and delicate environments.  The foam is created through a mixture of plant oils, wheat proteins, and sugars. It is supplied by Furlong Equipment, the exclusive importer and distributor of the solution to help organisations in Ireland make outdoor areas greener, cleaner and safer. They customise the machines for county councils and public works and, for Greentown, modified the skid unit to load on the truck, and added an extendable boom.

A representative of Dublin City Council was asked why the council made this decision.

“Action 9 of The Dublin City Biodiversity Action Plan 2015-2020 states the Council should: ‘Prepare and implement a pesticide reduction strategy within Dublin City Council.  The use of herbicides and pesticides by Dublin City Council will be examined, minimizing, and where possible, eliminating their use. This will require a clear and well-thought-out series of actions, which does not entail an overnight switch to a new regime, but rather a structured step-by-step approach. However, as part of the Dublin City Biodiversity Action Plan 2015-2020, Dublin City Council will develop a transparent strategy for minimizing pesticide use, which will be an exemplar for other organizations and authorities within the City’. As part of this minimisation programme, Dublin City Council sought tenders for alternatives methods for the control of weeds other than the use of glyphosate in line with Dublin City Council Biodiversity Plan.”

The method behind Foamstream is the longer a plant is kept in the kill zone (temperatures above 57˚C) the better.  By providing a layer of foam to the water, its acts as an insulator and holds the heat from the water in the kill zone for long enough to penetrate the leaf’s waxy outer layer, and travel down the stem and into the roots. This severely damages the plant, either killing it or causing it to die back.  The main benefits to using this kind of treatment are used in all weathers, on any surface, all-year-round. It delivers instantly visible results and is herbicide free.

“Foamstream is a great alternative to traditional methods. It has immediate effects on roadside verge weeds and uses organic means to do so.” Says Dineka Maguire, Greentown’s Dublin Divisional Manager. The weeds overtime then decompose naturally leaving streets weed-free.  The public have responded positively to this service and are delighted to see an alternative to herbicide-based methods. Members of the public are at first curious as to how the machine works, however, once we engage with them, they are delighted we are Foamstreaming their streets.”

More information can be obtained by calling Weedingtech on +44(0)2039090050
info@weedingtech.com

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EGO urge gardeners to go green

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EGO urge gardeners to go green: Calling for a change to make battery-powered equipment the preferred choice over tools that emit noxious fumes and damaging noise pollution by 2025, EGO has launched a hard-hitting manifesto which highlights the dangers of petrol gardening equipment.

As one of the world’s biggest outdoor power tool manufacturers, EGO is no stranger to the demands of the gardening and outdoor tools market. Pitting petrol against battery-powered tools, the company’s Challenge 2025 manifesto tackles the issues head-on in a bid to educate users to move away from petrol, issuing a rallying cry for like-minded organisations to join them and bring the issue in front of parliament.

EGO urge gardeners to go green

EGO urge gardeners to go green

Steve Roskell, Marketing Director EMEA at EGO explains “There’s a baffling irony in the fact that the majority of the tools created to beautify our gardens are actually destroying our environment. Air pollution, noise pollution and sustainability are all clearly huge issues in today’s society. People are waking up to the dangers posed by petrol-guzzling cars. Yet, when it comes to gardening and landscaping equipment, the momentum for change simply doesn’t seem to be gathering pace in the same way. Petrol tools are known for being incredibly noisy, worryingly dirty and downright dangerous to our health – we’re keen to educate users that there is a viable, strong, powerful and cheaper long-term alternative.”

In years gone by, petrol was the only option for gardeners looking for cordless garden tools. EGO’s commitment to research and development has helped to change that. The company is now able to produce garden tools which challenge preconceptions about battery life, power and charging time which might previously have put people off making the switch. EGO’s ARC Lithium battery offers unrivalled charging time and power, and exceptional weight to energy ratio, making it among the top-performing portable batteries on the market and an ideal alternative to petrol equipment in the garden.

Roskell continues, “Cities up and down the country are making moves to reduce and discourage car usage. Yet while councils are doing their utmost to hit new emissions targets and car manufacturers are evolving to help meet the demand for eco-friendly alternatives, the nation is busy pumping pollutants into our green spaces. Research suggests that operating a commercial leaf-blower for one hour emits as much smog-forming pollution as driving a 2.5-litre passenger car around 1100 miles! Something has to change – and we’re happy to lead that change by urging like-minded businesses to join us in our quest.”

Find out more about EGO’s pledge and how you can be part of the movement to make the world of gardening greener, visit challenge2025.eu.

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GrasPro vital at Forest Green

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GrasPro vital at Forest Green: GrasPro Pitch Management System has become a vital data collection tool for Forest Green Rovers head groundsman, Adam Witchell.

Adam is into his fourth season with the League Two football club, and he has used GrasPro throughout that time to record data from the club’s stadium pitch and training pitch. The system has helped him save time recording data and generating reports, allowing him to concentrate on doing the work that is needed.

GrasPro vital at Forest Green

GrasPro vital at Forest Green

“I think it’s wonderful, it’s one of my main tools as a head groundsman, and I use it to manage a different site as well, I find it one of the most beneficial things I have,” Adam began. “When I first went to Forest Green Rovers, it was one of the first things that I got because I needed a data management plan.

“I’ve trialled other data collection systems and for me this is the best one. I was looking for a management system, and I was trialling a few, but really it was the ease of use because some data collection systems can take a while. It takes away data recording in the evening because it doesn’t take long to put it into the GrasPro system, so it saves me time and energy that I can concentrate on other parts of my job.

“I use it for all of my monthly reviews and daily and weekly plans. And I can look back on things that worked and didn’t work by doing PQS’s on the pitch. For me, it’s massively helpful to be able to do that. I think I’m the only person in the world working with an organic vegan pitch and it’s very a difficult pitch. It’s a very heavy clay pitch, it has its problems, but with the weather that’s added to it, you can look at when disease might be in and then you can look at how the pitch performs with some of the products you’ve used and how it’s performed in the games in that month.

“And then at other times when it might not be performing as well you can look back and think ‘ah, I didn’t do that when I’ve done that before.’ Also, when we’ve had disease, I can record the humidity, the temperature and things like that to so I can see if disease is coming. With the weather we’ve had, I can think I need to start using this product or feeding it a certain way because disease will be rife soon.

“Another part of it was getting to speak to Einar Brynjarsson at GrasPro. We were looking at how we could improve the system for the future, and how it would best work with the systems I use already, which was very good and very detailed.

Working closely with Einar means if there are bits that aren’t in the system, then I can contact him. We’ve spoken about machinery because it didn’t have that before and I said I needed something for it. Now I can record the hours every month, and I can see when the next service is, when it’s due an oil change or maybe it’s time for machines to be ground or start looking at how the batteries are doing.

“There wasn’t anything like that initially, and it was something I felt like I wanted, I discussed it with them, and they’ve come up with an excellent machinery section of the system which takes a lot of headache away. I have a lot of plate spinning in my job, and it’s something that I don’t have to worry about now, I don’t need to keep checking if it’s time for this to be serviced or putting lots of bits of paper down or notes all around my whiteboard.”

GrasPro has been built by groundsmen for groundsmen. It has been developed as a time effective tool to help speed up data collection and allow users to quickly use and analyse data from their surfaces and machines to make informed statistical decisions.

For a free demonstration of the GrasPro Pitch Management System, visit https://www.gras.pro.

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Ganton goes green with Deere

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Ganton goes green with Deere: One of the world’s top 80 courses, Ganton Golf Club in the Vale of Pickering ranks among the very best of Britain’s inland courses.

It has played host to many amateur and professional tournaments, including the Walker Cup in 2003 – so joining Royal Birkdale, The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers at Muirfield and Royal Lytham & St Annes as one of only four venues to have also staged the Curtis Cup and Ryder Cup matches.

Ganton goes green with Deere

Ganton goes green with Deere

Ganton will also be hosting an England v France International Match in May this year, and is scheduled to host the English Men’s Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship for the Brabazon Trophy and also the R&A Womens and Girls Home Internationals in 2021. The sandy, gently undulating site was once a North Sea inlet, so it has all the characteristics of both a links and a heathland course. Another striking feature is over 100 bunkers, some huge in size.

Head greenkeeper Andrew West says he has always had a vision of opening up more areas of the course to give it more of a links feel, and he is now beginning to achieve this more effectively since the club invested in a new set of John Deere hybrid electric E-Cut mowers. These were supplied by dealer F G Adamson & Son on a five-year finance lease deal with annual repayments from John Deere Financial.

“We’ve got some very challenging undulations here and around two hectares of aprons and collars altogether, which really can’t be managed with triples,” Andrew explains. “But with quite a low height of cut required at 7mm on these areas during the playing season, this was proving difficult to achieve with our previous five-gang mowers and we were always struggling to hold the cuts.

“However, I always felt we could do this job better and in a reasonable time frame with the right machine, so we spoke to our course consultant Gordon Irvine and he really influenced our thinking. Both he and the STRI’s head of agronomy Alistair Beggs encouraged us to consider following Royal Birkdale’s example, noting improvements to the course presentation and finish and complimenting the contribution John Deere’s 8000AE PrecisionCut fairway mower had made there.”

Following an extensive review and evaluation of the different manufacturers’ machines, the club opted for a John Deere package deal from Adamsons and the new hybrid mower fleet now includes two 8000AEs as well as two 2500E triplex and three 220E walk-behind greens mowers. These were joined by a 4049R compact tractor with front loader, two HPX diesel and two TE electric Gator utility vehicles, as well as a Charterhouse Verti-Drain 7416 aerator and top dresser.

“The whole team was involved in the process and John Deere scored the best in our view,” says Andrew. “In addition to all the course demonstrations that Adamsons organised, we visited Royal Birkdale and spoke to friends and other contacts in the industry, to see what they thought.

“The club rightly expects us to be accountable for our decisions, and to see improvements as a result of the investment in any new machinery. Reliable dealer service and parts support has to be there too, and knowing this was behind the deal also made our final decision easier.”

Another important element of the deal for Andrew and his team was the effort made by John Deere and Adamsons to deliver the quality of finish the club was looking for, as well as provide full training to the greens and workshop staff.

“Machine optimisation was the key focus, working closely and extensively with the club to identify the right machines and set them up exactly the way they wanted them by trying out different specifications and configurations,” says John Deere territory manager Marcus Morris. “Together with the dealership, we try our hardest to do what the customer needs and deliver on our promises.”

“The finance deal really helped a lot too,” says Andrew West. “Ganton has traditionally bought all its equipment outright, but this has probably held the club back from adopting the latest technology, and we’re really keeping up with the times now. For any club it’s amazing what John Deere Financial can do – this deal helped us to buy a JCB digger and the Verti-Drain. It was an extremely cost-effective way of purchasing our new equipment.

“I’m also convinced we’re saving money using the new E-Cut hybrid electric mowers, which provide both fuel savings and reduced noise levels. Overall, you can have the best agronomic advice in the world, but if you haven’t got the right equipment with the latest technology, it doesn’t necessarily work. Having started the process, I believe there’s a good future for John Deere at this club.”

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