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ICL integral to fairways recovery

ICL integral to fairways recovery

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ICL integral to fairways recovery : Ian Cambridge, Course Manager at Saffron Walden Golf Club in Cambridge, has revealed how the correct advice, seed, and nutritional products from ICL have been integral in helping the fairways recover from drought.

The infamous drought of 2018 proved to be problematic for greenkeepers and course managers throughout the UK and Ian Cambridge was no exception.

ICL integral to fairways recovery

“Back in the summer of 2018, like most golf courses, we lost a high proportion of our grass sward on the fairways due to the drought,” he said. “We had overseeded in the spring of 2019 without great success and the fairways were quite poor through the early part of the season.”

Looking for a solution, Ian contacted ICL and Andrew Pledger (Technical Area Sales Manager) visited the East Anglian club. He and Ian walked around the course looking at the conditions and probed into the soil to see what could be done. It was at this point that Andrew suggested a programmed approach which centred around ICL’s recently launched Vitalnova Links bio-stimulant.

Vitalnova Links consists of a unique combination of concentrated seaweed extract Vitalnova SeaMax and the proven biostimulant Vitalnova Blade. In turn, the formulation brings together and accentuates the benefits of both products.

Vitalnova Links was combined with a wetting agent and 8kg of a water soluble 35-0-5 fertilizer.

Andrew also advised, that due to not having any irrigation capacity, Ian should not overseed again until the autumn. This time, however, Andrew recommended that Ian use a multi-blend mixture consisting of rye, fescue and SSMG (Smooth Stalk Meadow Grass).

“The grass species that we lost the most of was the fescue and we were unsure of what we should do,” said Ian. “However, Andrew explained that by using a blend of three different species we would be spreading our bets a bit more with any future drought.

“The nutritional and wetting agent programme had actually helped with some natural ingress of our existing sward. This helped lower the amount of seed that we needed to use in our overseeding that autumn and it was a great help with lowering the costs. The seed mix we chose was the ICL ProSelect 2 Tees/Fairways mix and we had great germination success.”

ProSelect 2 Tees/Fairways is proving to be an extremely popular choice with golf courses throughout the UK and beyond. The mixture is a blend of fine fescues and perennial ryegrass which creates a turf surface that can recover strongly from divoting.

The blend contains Traction smooth-stalked meadow grass and Torsion TRT perennial ryegrass to provide rhizomatous and Turf Repairing Tiller (TRT) growth for extra durability and recovery from divots. It is renowned for providing great colour, all-round disease tolerance and close mowing tolerance.

The new nutritional programme and seed were put to the test in 2020 when the drought inevitably returned.

“In the spring of 2020, the fairways were filling in very nicely, however, the conditions became very droughty once again,” said Ian. “The difference this time was that we were already on a wetting agent and nutritional programme, and yes the turf browned off but when the rain returned in August the sward came straight back.

“Our over-seeding requirements were reduced, we believe, due to the choice of the quality seed and the advice from Andrew on our nutritional programme.”

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

For more news and insightful views, you can follow ICL on Twitter @ICL_Turf

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

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ICL the ‘one stop-shop’ for Bradford City

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ICL the ‘one stop-shop’ for Bradford City: ICL’s ProSelect grass seed supported by a monthly nutritional programme has resulted in Bradford City’s pitch being in the best condition ever – according to Head Groundsman Mick Doyle.

If anyone knows the pitch at Bradford City’s Utilita Energy Stadium – it is Mick. He has been working at the club for an incredible fourteen years and in that time, it is safe to say that he has single-handedly kept the pitch in excellent condition.

ICL the ‘one stop-shop’ for Bradford City

ICL the ‘one stop-shop’ for Bradford City

However, he claims that the bar has now been raised and that it all started with ICL’s ProSelect grass seed.

“The bottom line is that I needed a new seed,” he said. “The seed I used previously just didn’t work for me – it was patchy and did not germinate. Therefore, when it came round to pitch renovations last year, I used ICL’s ProSelect 1 Premium Pitch which I had first heard about at an ICL educational day and after speaking to other groundsmen.”

Combining four top-ranked perennial ryegrasses, ProSelect 1 Premium Pitch, provides a fast-recovering, dense, hard-wearing surface. Furthermore, Mick decided that he would like to explore a full ICL nutritional programme because in his words, it would be a “one-stop shop which could deliver on all fronts.”

Prior to sowing the ProSelect seed, Craig Lalley, Technical Sales Manager for ICL visited Mick at the stadium and took some soil samples. Craig then proceeded to devise a plan tailored to Mick’s environment – taking into consideration his stadium, his machinery, his staffing levels, his time restraints and he ultimately put a programme together based on what Mick was trying to achieve.

“My biggest concern was that I could never get any root down but Craig assured me that I would with his programme,” said Mick. “True to his word – he was absolutely right.”

The key was getting the pitch off to the best possible start. After sowing the ProSelect grass seed, Mick immediately followed with 10 litres of H2Pro TriSmart, in a bid to absorb more moisture around the seed and aid germination.

It turned out to be a winning combination: “The seed was coming up beautifully in just six days,” said Mick.

On that sixth day after seeding, and based on Craig’s advice, Mick went one step further by applying Sierrablen Plus Renovator 20-20-8 at a rate of 35g/m², the mini-granules ensuring even distribution for young seedlings while its high phosphate levels encourage strong root growth.

Since then, the nutritional programme has been based on providing the right nutrient at the right time, according to Craig.

“A lot of the programme has been designed to really focus on root establishment to assist with pitch playability. Therefore, Mick has been using Vitalnova SeaMax (seaweed extracts) and Vitalnova Blade along with Primo Maxx II growth regulator.

“Mick has produced a great surface this season and that has carried through the challenging winter months. To work alongside his good cultural methods over this testing period, Mick incorporated H2Pro FlowSmart into his monthly ITM programme. This is a superb penetrant to help with water percolation through the profile.”

Mick was also in agreement:

“I’ve had fourteen seasons here and I can honestly say that this is the best condition the pitch has ever been at this time of year. I put that down to the products.

“The pitch is holding up incredibly well and you can hardly tell that players have been on the pitch after a game. In years gone by where we have had shallow rooting a lot of remedial work was needed following fixtures. This is no longer required so we are saving time and benefitting from good plant health.

“It’s just been consistently good all year.

“The programme is very straight forward to follow – it’s all on my wall planner in my office and reminds me of what’s going on at all times. I can also call Craig and get advice which is a real benefit.

“Overall, I’m incredibly pleased that I decided to go down the ICL route because it really has made such a difference to the pitch – not just aesthetically and from a playability point of view, but also from what is going on below the surface.”

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

For more news and insightful views, you can follow ICL on Twitter @ICL_Turf

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

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ICL to sponsor Amenity Forum event

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ICL to sponsor Amenity Forum event: ICL has announced that it is sponsoring the Amenity Forum ‘Meeting the Challenge’ online event, taking place on 25 February 2021.

Dr Dan Jones – Managing Director of Advanced Invasives, and Barry Browne – ICL’s Landscape and Industrial National Sales Manager, will be featuring in the highly anticipated online event. Their presentation will be focussing on a new invasive weed management project that has been developed off the back of the successful Invasive Science Lite webinar series.

ICL to sponsor Amenity Forum event

ICL to sponsor Amenity Forum event

The project will cover native and non-native species and will look to address limited evidence and support within the industry for some key species beyond Japanese Knotweed. It will provide a working guide to each species on how to treat, control and will seek to answer or dispel some misunderstandings and myths surrounding vegetation management of these highly invasive weeds.

Meeting the Challenge timetable on 25th February

09.45 – Arrival and networking.

10.15 – Welcome and Introduction.

10.20 – Policy Update – including the review of The National Action Plan, enforcement and PPPs approval going forward. Adrian Dixon, CRD

10.40 – Change, Challenge and Opportunity in terms of Amenity Management – including a focus on current issues and update on how the sector needs to respond.

– Forum activity to be covered with production of guidance on integrated control and producing plans, carbon reduction and water quality challenges. Presented by John Moverley.

11.10 – Facilitated Participative Session – the group will be split into various work groups.

11.45 – BREAK

11.55 – Presentation by Dr Dan Jones and Barry Browne

12.15 – Update on The Amenity Standard.

12.30 – Conclude.

Meeting the Challenge is a completely free event but will require registration.

To register for the event, please visit www.amenityforum.co.uk/our-events/

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

For more news and insightful views, you can follow ICL on Twitter @ICL_Turf

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

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Full house for ICL

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Full house for ICL: All ICL Technical Area Sales Managers are now fully BASIS and FACTS qualified after two members of staff recently passed their FACTS examination. 

Matt Nutter and Andrew Pledger, ICL Technical Area Sales Managers operating in South Central and South East England have both, recently, successfully completed the Fertilizer Advisers Certification and Training Scheme (FACTS). This means that ICL now boasts an entire team of BASIS and FACTS qualified staff.

Full house for ICL

Full house for ICL

FACTS is available to those who have already qualified for the BASIS Professional Register and want to gain Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points. The course builds on an individual’s prior level of agronomic knowledge and candidates must have at least one year’s experience of fertilizer and nutrient management planning in the UK.

Successful FACTS participants demonstrate a full understanding of the role of fertilizers on the main crop groups in the UK and can make recommendations that are agronomically, economically and environmentally sound.

By becoming BASIS and FACTS qualified and by joining the Professional Register, staff commit to a Code of Professional Ethics and a programme of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) which requires them to continue their training to keep up-to-date with the latest developments and to enhance and broaden their knowledge and skills.

This ensures that turf managers receive the very best advice from ICL’s dedicated turf and landscape team.

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

For more news and insightful views, you can follow ICL on Twitter @ICL_Turf

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

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New ICL distributor in Northern Ireland

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New ICL distributor in Northern Ireland: ICL is pleased to announce Irwin’s Sportsturf as a new distributor for the ICL plant protection range in Northern Ireland.

When it comes to protecting turf and managing landscape areas, ICL’s range of plant protection and control products provide the tools needed in any armoury.

New ICL distributor in Northern Ireland

New ICL distributor in Northern Ireland

Featuring Syngenta’s leading range of fungicides such as Instrata Elite and Medallion TL; a powerful line-up of fast-acting herbicides including Praxys and Esteron T; the number one plant growth regulator Primo Maxx II; the innovative turf pigment Ryder; and Nemasys which controls turf pests such as Chafer Grubs and Leatherjackets – there is a solution to ensure that turf managers are always in control.

Irwin’s Sportsturf, based in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, was formed in 2018 by former greenkeeper Kyle Irwin.

Kyle believes that the ICL appointment is yet another step in the right direction for Irwin Sportsturf.

“Since we started the business, Irwin’s Sportsturf has strived to offer the best products and service to our customers. As our reputation grows, we are delighted to be appointed as an official ICL distributor for Northern Ireland and look forward to working closely with ICL and Syngenta in the future.”

The appointment sees Irwin’s Sportsturf join Lindsay Turfcare as an official ICL distributor in Northern Ireland. Lindsay Turfcare, based in Co.Armagh, also provide ICL’s plant protection products and the extensive range of ICL fertilizers.

The full range of ICL plant protection products are available from Irwin’s Sportsturf with immediate effect.

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk

For more news and insightful views, you can follow ICL on Twitter @ICL_Turf

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

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

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You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.