Tag Archive for: Health

Unlocking the power of seaweed: SMX difference for turf health

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Unlocking the power of seaweed: SMX difference for turf health: By ICL’s Henry Bechelet. A Greenkeeper’s Reality: The Battle Against Stress

You’ve been here before.

Unlocking the power of seaweed: SMX difference for turf health

Unlocking the power of seaweed: SMX difference for turf health

A long, dry spell stretches on, and the greens start showing signs of stress – wilting, thinning, roots struggling to reach deeper for moisture. Then,
just as relief comes in the form of rain, it brings a new challenge: soft, unpredictable surfaces, weakened turf, and patchy recovery.

In these moments, turf resilience isn’t just a nice-to-have – it’s essential. Stronger roots mean faster recovery, better stress tolerance, and consistently high-quality playing surfaces. And for years, greenkeepers have turned to seaweed extracts to support plant health.

But here’s the thing: not all seaweed based biostimulants are the same. The difference isn’t just in the seaweed itself – it’s in how its powerful compounds are extracted.

Why SMX is Different: Science, Innovation, and Sustainability

ICL, in partnership with Acadian Seaplants – the world leader in seaweed technology – has developed SMX, a scientifically engineered seaweed biostimulant designed to
enhance turf performance from the roots up. With cutting-edge extraction methods, a commitment to sustainability, and proven results, SMX isn’t just another seaweed extract. It’s a smarter approach to turf management.

The Science Behind SMX: Why Extraction Matters

Not all seaweed extracts deliver the same results. For decades, seaweed has been used in turf management. But how it’s processed determines whether its most beneficial compounds reach the plant in a usable form.

There’s a common belief that cold-pressed seaweed is always superior. It’s a nice idea, but the reality is more complex. Research shows that different extraction
methods yield different benefits – some unlock higher levels of bioactive compounds than others.

Alkaline Extraction: A Proven Advantage

Independent trials, including those led by Dr. Andy Owen and the ICL team, have demonstrated that alkaline extracted seaweed can significantly enhance root length and volume – key factors in improving turf resilience.

Here’s why it matters:

  • Better root initiation – SMX helps roots establish faster and deeper, providing stronger anchorage and access to moisture.
  • Enhanced stress tolerance – Turf treated with SMX recovers more effectively from drought, wear, and disease.
  • Improved nutrient uptake – Healthier roots mean better absorption of essential nutrients, supporting long-term turf quality. It’s not about saying one method is always better than another – it’s about understanding what actually works in turf management. And SMX is backed by real-world trials.

What Sets SMX Apart?

Specialist expertise from Acadian Seaplants. Acadian Seaplants is a global leader in sustainable seaweed harvesting and extraction technology.

By partnering with Acadian, ICL combines world-class seaweed innovation with its own expertise in turf agronomy, ensuring SMX delivers real, measurable benefits.

Unlocking the power of seaweed: SMX difference for turf health

Unlocking the power of seaweed: SMX difference for turf health

Extraction that works for turf, not just for labels:

  • SMX’s alkaline extraction process enhances the availability of plant growth regulators and stress response compounds.
  • Trials confirm that SMX-treated turf recovers faster from drought, wear, and disease, helping greenkeepers maintain high performance playing surfaces.

Real-World Results, Proven by Science

Independent research shows that SMX:

  • Increases root initiation
  • Strengthens turf against environmental stress
  • Improves long-term resilience on golf courses, stadiums, and sports pitches.

Sustainable Innovation: The SMX Commitment

Sustainability isn’t just a buzzword – it’s a responsibility. Acadian Seaplants ensures every harvest is carried out responsibly, using satellite imaging and drone technology to monitor seaweed bed regrowth. This protects marine ecosystems while ensuring a continuous, high-quality supply of seaweed.

For greenkeepers, choosing SMX means choosing a product that supports turf health and respects the environment.

SMX: The Next Step in Turf Management

Greenkeeping isn’t just about managing grass – it’s about understanding how to give turf the best possible foundation to thrive.

With increasing environmental challenges, greenkeepers need proven, research-backed solutions – not just marketing claims. SMX is more than just another seaweed extract.

It’s the next step in root health, stress resilience, and sustainable turf management.

Are you ready for the SMX difference? Contact us to learn how ICL and Acadian Seaplants are setting new standards in turf management.

Optimising Turf Health with Consolidate

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Optimising Turf Health with Consolidate: With a career spanning 20 years, Jamie Melham, Head Greenkeeper at one of the finest in Sussex, Highwoods Golf Club, brings his experience and collaboration with specialist for Consolidate Turf, Rob Welford, to enhance the health and aesthetics of the golf course.

Jamie began his greenkeeping journey two decades ago, accruing experience at Dale Hill Golf Club and Lamberhurst Golf Club before joining Highwoods Golf Club, where he has been for over eight years leading a team of six greens staff. His role involves not just maintaining the course but also continuously experimenting with and refining turf management practices.

Optimising Turf Health with Consolidate

Optimising Turf Health with Consolidate

Jamie’s partnership with Rob Welford from Consolidate Turf started 3 years ago and has been instrumental in transforming the nutrient management approach at Highwoods. Rob’s expertise and responsiveness have provided Jamie with confidence and reliable support, and the use of consolidate products played a big part in the presentation of the course, when the club celebrated its centenary year in 2024.

One specific challenge Jamie faced was the inconsistency in fertilizer prill size from a different supplier. Initially, Rob assessed the golf course’s overall plant health, leading to the transition from granular to liquid fertilizers for more consistent results, using Consolidate Plus to kickstart the greens early in the season. This approach has proven successful for three consecutive seasons.

Jamie explains “I began by applying Consolidate products to the approach areas and soon extended their use to the greens. I am now on a full annual package of Consolidate liquids, including seaweed, potassium, magnesium, and other nutrients, which are customised yearly to meet the specific needs for growth, colour and overall turf health.”

“Like all our customers we have a bespoke programme for Jamie,” explains Rob “The use of the Consolidate nitrogen source gives the turf an efficient food source to make the building blocks of proteins and amino acids to deliver healthy results on the greens without any of the associated drawbacks of conventional nitrogen sources. The liquids provide the control needed to deliver the correct dosage. We do leaf analysis to check the plant is receiving everything it needs. This is coupled with a programme for approaches and fairways, tailored for his individual needs and requirements in these different areas.

For the approaches, Jamie maintains a treatment schedule of every three weeks, a practice he also applies during the winter to prevent disease. “The results speak for themselves” said Jamie “With consistent progress across every area treated. Improvements in colour, grass strength and wearability, less disease and faster recovery.” This has led to expanding these practices to the fairways, using Consolidate products across all key areas of the course and making ongoing adjustments based on Rob’s recommendations.

In addition to using Consolidate products, Jamie incorporates feedback from the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) into his maintenance program. STRI provides annual soil analysis, which Jamie, and Rob review to adjust the nutrient program, as necessary. This collaboration ensures that the turf management practices are continuously optimized based on scientific data.

The structured and scientifically backed approach to turf management, combined with Rob’s products and STRI’s analysis, provides reassurance to the club’s board, allowing Jamie to focus on maintaining his own ambitious standards.

For further information visit www.consolidateturf.com

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SISIS Maxislit Boosts Turf Health

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SISIS Maxislit Boosts Turf Health: Ramsey Golf and Bowls Club in Cambridge, is experiencing remarkable improvements in turf health and playability thanks to the SISIS Maxislit.

Head Greenkeeper Richard Shilling, who has dedicated 35 years to the club, highlights how this aerator is transforming their maintenance practices.

SISIS Maxislit Boosts Turf Health

SISIS Maxislit Boosts Turf Health

Richard began his journey at Ramsey Golf and Bowls Club as an apprentice and has been a mainstay ever since, now serving as Head Greenkeeper for the past four years. Overseeing 150 acres of parkland, he manages both the golf and bowls greens. Despite the club’s floodplain location, Richard sees the occasional flooding as a benefit. “Although we do have issues with flooding, we have been open more than local courses because the course is built to flood. The flood is a good thing because it puts all the nutrients back in the fairways, so in that 40-degree summer the other year, everyone thought we had fairway irrigation!” he explains.

To maintain the health and playability of the greens and fairways, aeration is crucial. “You can’t buy aeration in a bottle, and it is one of the most important tasks you can carry out,” Richard says. As part of his efforts to modernise the club’s maintenance practices, Richard recently purchased the SISIS Maxislit.

The Maxislit is a tractor-mounted deep slitting aerator, designed for sports field and golf course maintenance. It is particularly effective in improving drainage, reducing turf compaction, and minimising thatch buildup. “Part of the modernisation was buying a new slitter. This was bought for the greens, fairways, and generally most areas on the course.” says Richard.

The Maxislit’s deep, clean penetration and simple design, requiring minimal maintenance, make it an ideal tool for outstanding turf treatment. One of the standout features of the Maxislit is its tine design. “The tines are well designed – these are well-shaped, sturdy, and well-built,” Richard notes. The machine’s angle of the tines and spiral design of the tine shaft assist penetration, giving maximum underground cultivation with minimal surface disturbance.

Richard also praised the Maxislit’s simplicity and mechanical reliability. “It is simple and easy to use. I think being more mechanical is the way forward – and aeration is the way to go instead of spraying lots of chemicals,” he says.

The Maxislit’s ability to produce outstanding underground cultivation with minimal surface disturbance allows for uninterrupted play. “The beauty of using this is that people can play straight away, they won’t even know if the work has been done. Slit it, mow it, forget about it.”

By implementing the Maxislit in his maintenance routine, Richard has seen significant benefits. “I see deeper rooting and more air is pumped in. We’ll slit the greens one month, then vertidrain and alternate – we always mix it up as we go along because it gives you different depths,” he explains. This method ensures the turf remains healthy and resilient throughout the year.

With its robust design and effective performance, the SISIS Maxislit has become an essential asset for Richard and Ramsey Golf and Bowls Club, ensuring the course remains in top condition for members and visitors alike.

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact SISIS on 01332 824 777 or visit www.sisis.com

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow SISIS on Twitter or Instagram @SISISMachinery and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/SISISMachinery. You can also view the latest SISIS videos by visiting www.youtube.com/SISISMachinery

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

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Turf Tank Brings Mental Health Boost

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Turf Tank Brings Mental Health Boost: Initial marking for athletics and other sports used to be a source of anxiety and stress at Dollar Academy, but since using the Turf Tank One, the mindset of the team has been positively transformed.

Situated in the town of Dollar, Central Scotland, the co-educational day and boarding school occupies a 70-acre site at the base of the Ochil Hills. It is there Head of Grounds, John Vaughan-Davis, and his team strive to provide the best surfaces possible for the 1300 children aged 5-18.

Turf Tank Brings Mental Health Boost

Turf Tank Brings Mental Health Boost

A significant part of that task is pitch presentation and line marking. Previously, the job of initial line marking for athletics, in particular, brought a lot of stress to the team, creating a negative environment to work in. But with the Turf Tank robot at their disposal, that’s all changed.

“I think the mental health of our team has improved because of the Turf Tank,” John begins. “Historically, leading up to athletics marking, initial rugby marking, and football initial markings, there’s always been a bit of anxiety, a bit of stress, and it was a really, really anxious environment to be around.

“Now that we’ve got the Turf Tank, it’s completely changed the team’s mindset. It’s gone from being tense to just relaxed and having faith and trust in the Turf Tank. It just eased everyone’s concerns. It’s made a much better working environment for all of us, leading up to those points by removing an added stress and taking it away.

“So mental health is probably one of the biggest benefits that I’m not sure people talk about enough.”

As well as benefitting the existing team, John has also seen an impact when recruiting. In his experience, the use of innovative technology has interested potential candidates and should be used as a tool to attract people into the industry.

By attracting new staff and boosting the morale of the existing team, the Turf Tank is helping John achieve his goals for the site and add finishes like school logos and numbers on rugby pitches, which they couldn’t do without the robot.

“Having pride in what we do reflects across the whole school, and that’s very much at the core of our working process,” John explains.

“We want to try and produce the best pitches that we can in the conditions we are given, and the Turf Tank certainly helps us present the pitches in the best way possible.

“We can’t do a lot of the things that the Turf Tank does by hand. For example, the numbers that we did today, the school badge or a lacrosse pitch at short notice that we can now do within 20 minutes. We’ve marked small football pitches for charity days and other events that we couldn’t have done without the Turf Tank.

“So for us to produce the best pitches we can is one thing, but being able to do things on short notice is another thing that we keep on having to do. The Turf Tank takes all the pressure off of that element of it, but also knowing that when we do put it out, it’s going to do a 100% job.

“It is correct every single time we put that machine out, it’s spot on. Regardless of the event, it is always, always 100% right.”

Dollar Academy Video Interview – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NC6cGNsO1A

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Suståne delivers perfect bill of health

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Suståne delivers perfect bill of health: A year-round programme from Suståne® Natural Fertilizers has been effectively managing moisture and turf stresses to keep the 27-hole course at Wellow Golf Club disease-free.

Course Manager Lee Payne describes how the ‘perfect combination’ of Suståne® products including 5-2-10+Fe and 6-2-4 Turf Revival® has seen a drastic reduction in the frequency and severity of a variety of turf diseases, lowering fungicide applications and delivering long-lasting visual appeal.

Suståne delivers perfect bill of health

Suståne delivers perfect bill of health

Steeped in history, Hampshire’s Wellow Golf Club is set among 200 acres of parkland surrounding Embley Park – once occupied by King Alfred and later the family home of Florence Nightingale. Skip forward a couple of centuries, the site now boasts a beautiful 27-hole course maintained by Lee and his team of five. Privately owned and broken down into three 9-hole courses; the rotation of the Ryedown, Blackwater and Embley courses enable a ‘TLC week’ to take place one in every three… or at least that’s the idea!

“We’re constantly busy!” exclaims Lee. “We conduct a lot of in-house drainage projects as we’re quite a heavy site meaning that for most of the winter months, we can’t get a sprayer out. That leads me nicely onto how good the Suståne product really is, an annual programme from whom keeps us ticking over superbly well.”

“It was the organic aspect that led me to Suståne® initially. We were looking for something that would boost the good bacteria in the profile and not be harmful to the environment or our aquatic life, while also keeping on top of the variety of turf diseases that appear.” The programme, drawn up by Suståne’s Russell Riley and Neil Rogers from AGS consists of 4-6-4 slow-release fertiliser, 5-2-4+Fe for a boost of colour during December, January and February before a switch to 5-2-10+FE during spring and autumn. Lee also uses Bolster™ Liquid Biostimulant and Suståne 6-2-4 Turf Revival® which he claims provides instant recovery following heavy renovations in March and August.

“Recovery is one of the biggest factors for us, with tight turnarounds in maintenance windows and this is where Suståne® has been fantastic. The extended slow-release nitrogen within the 6-2-4 product gives us an instant boost followed by a month or two of consistent recovery.” Lee continues, “We also have a couple of greens particularly susceptible to Anthracnose. If this starts to appear we simply put down a half rate of the 5-2-10 which provides enough goodness back into the soil to effectively control any outbreaks.”

A noticeable consistency to overall plant health has meant that Lee doesn’t feel the need to try anything else. “We know our programme, we know it works for us and we know that advice is always available from Russell or Neil to tweak things if required. Not only that, but it’s also reassuring to know that we’re running the course in a way that is sympathetic to the environment we’re in to protect what we have here now and into the future.”

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